


to end a war (within your arms)

by youngwitchin



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Intoxication, No Beta, Post-Canon, catra likes to call adora 'babe', i don't remember writing this, intoxicated adora, intoxicated glimmer, more adventures with the best friends squad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:28:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25592053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youngwitchin/pseuds/youngwitchin
Summary: Ending a war is not as simple as winning some grand battle. The real key to ending a war is bringing peace directly to the people whose lives have been affected.Traveling the universe, helping planets heal from the Horde's damage, is no easy job. When the Best Friends Squad lands on a planet where corruption runs deep, and the inhabitants look awfully similar to Catra, how will they save its people, as well as themselves?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I wrote this fic in a mid-quarantine haze and now remember very little about it. Hope it's good! Unedited so I apologize in advance for any errors. Please be kind, and enjoy reading! Thanks a million ;)

Adora sat with her back against the headboard, a brush in one hand and a spray bottle in the other. Propped between her legs was Catra, who resolutely hated what was happening. Even if she was purring.   
“You know, you can’t keep going weeks without brushing it,” Adora complained, “If you just did it every couple days, we would have a much easier time at this.”  
Catra huffed, “Right, because the exact thing I want to spend twenty minutes a day doing is grooming myself. As if I don’t have important shit to do.”  
It had been a year since Horde Prime was taken down, and his hive of an empire collapsed. A whole galaxy of planets were liberated from his control all at once, and the magic of the universe was finally able to heal. Still, the Rebellion’s work was nowhere near done. Planets who had gone centuries without independent governments, magic, and general freedom couldn’t simply bounce back in a day. Thus arose their new mission, one that would likely take years, if not decades. Divided into units, the remainder of the Rebellion travelled from planet to planet lending aid in repairing communities and teaching inhabitants how to connect to the magic of their homeland. After reverse engineering the intact ships of the Horde, Entrapta and Hordak managed to design advanced vehicles of interplanetary transportation. AKA, spaceships.   
Having just departed from a planet of bird-people (yes, Catra struggled), the Best Friend Squad was currently en route to the next civilization. They had already been travelling for two days, and had another night of flight to look forward to before touching down.   
“Oh, please, like you’ve even thought about work for the past forty eight hours. Do you even know where we’re headed next?”  
“I - ,” Catra paused as Adora sorted out a particularly knotted strand of hair. “I know just as much as you do, babe. No need to do my homework when there’s no textbook.”   
This much was true. Without a known name, dominant species, or culture, the planet they were soaring to was quite the mystery.   
Braiding the freshly detangled hair in her hands, Adora chewed her lip. “What do you think we’ll find there?”  
“I don’t know. Some people. A cult. Hopefully better food than those god-awful birds gave us. Stop tugging so hard,” Catra whined.   
Adora pulled on the hair, delighted by the yelp that Catra emitted. Even though it had been a year, she could never get over the bliss of getting to do this. For so long, she thought she’d never get to touch, hold Catra like this again. To come so close to her face that she could see her eyelashes twitch - without taking a punch to the gut. She swore every night that she would never take for granted what she had. Some evenings, she knocked out with her head over her girlfriend’s heart, loving the rise and fall of her chest. Others, she drifted off with Catra curled against her calves and a tail wrapped around her waist. No matter how they slept, a part of them was always connected, touching.   
For the first month or so after they got together, she woke up every morning frantically seeking her beloved out. Her pulse would pound in her jaw as Catra stroked her head, slowly calming her down until she could speak over the screaming in her head.   
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she’d whisper during these times, face buried in the pillow in shame.   
“When will you understand, I’m not going anywhere? You can’t get rid of me that easily, Adora.” Catra would coax her into sitting up, looking her in the eyes.  
“In my head, I know that,” Adora had explained, “But my body is still catching up.”   
It had been six months since her last night terror. Now, she awoke and smiled, hands traipsing over whatever piece of Catra’s skin was available. And when her lover finally arose, she’d place a languid kiss on her wrist, her neck, her lips. They could spend hours in bed mapping each other out with mouth and hand. Some mornings, they set the alarm early to do just that.   
What? It’s hard to find alone time when you’re an interplanetary diplomat.   
“We should probably go to sleep as soon as your hair is fixed. Who knows what the hell we’re gonna have to do tomorrow, or how much energy it’ll take.”  
Catra twisted in Adora’s grasp, slapping a pout on her lips, “What, you don’t wanna stay up and spend time with me? You said you’d teach me that card game tonight.”   
“That was before Glimmer told me no one’s heard from this planet in twenty years! Complete silence, but they were an active stronghold in the Horde’s files. I mean, what if they’re loyal to the Horde and try to kill us? What if they’re like that one planet and the whole place is overrun by spiders?” She could go on, but stopped as Catra pretending to gag at mention of the spider planet.   
“Whatever we find, we’ll be able to handle,” Catra said as Adora began working on the last tangled piece of hair. “We took down a thousand-year-old, galaxy-wide empire in a matter of months. What could be harder than that?”  
****  
As it turned out, a lot of things could be harder than that. For starters, it was nearly impossible to pass through the atmosphere of this planet. While Bow’s readings said it was similar to Etheria’s, it contained an element that he didn’t recognize. Because of this, their ship’s fuel crystals almost combust upon reacting with it. Had Bow not acted quickly and shut down all thrust power, the four of them would have promptly gone up in flames. Of course, this meant he then had to navigate a crash landing. Having literally no knowledge of the planet’s surface, it turned into a quick search for a place to crash into. See, it wouldn’t look professional on their part if their greeting was to collide into a city or other important area. As it turned out, most of the planet was mountainous, with many lakes nestled between them. Praying to Angella that this civilization didn’t live in the water, he wrestled the ship to a skidding stop in one of the lakes.   
Next came the difficulty that was breathing. With an unknown element in the air, they couldn’t be sure if breathing it would kill them. So, for the time being, they were to keep their helmets securely on. This frustrated Catra to no end, seeing as the whole squad loved to coo at how cute her ears were in the helmet.  
“Alright, kids,” Glimmer said, standing in front of the door. “We don’t know what’s out there, but whatever it is, we’ll react accordingly. I want Bow to focus on navigation, Adora and Catra on defense. I’ll be doing reconnaissance until we can locate and communicate with the people of the planet.”   
Catra was definitely not paying attention. She kept switching intermittently from gazing curiously out the windows at the planet below and flicking her tail at Adora’s butt to see her reaction. When Adora grabbed hold of her tail and gave it a pinch, she decided to focus on the former.   
The planet was truly gorgeous. Here at the bottom of the mountains, there grew a tall grass that was more blue than green, like the grass of Etheria. As her gaze climbed up the mountain, the environment changed, becoming rocky in the middle, and covered in snow at the high top. She could vaguely see that each mountain was different, but shared most of their features. For all of the plush trees and spiraling vines that lived on the planet, she couldn’t spot a biotic organism much bigger than her pinky nail. Fleetingly, Catra wondered if the people here might be really, really tiny. Bow only had one arrow with a magnifying glass feature, so if that was the case, they were screwed. Chuckling internally at herself, she tuned back into the pep talk.   
“Until then, we cannot leave. I think that’s everything! Now let’s get out there.”   
Glimmer led the way down the ramp, her short hair blowing in the wind. She had that look on her face that was somewhere between a kid in a candy store and someone testifying in court. Usually, this meant that she was incredibly excited about the adventure ahead, but was trying - and failing - to maintain the appearance of a level-headed ruler. Not that it mattered, because her friends were geeking out right alongside her.   
“This place is so cool!” Bow whispered shrilly. “The grass is blue! The bugs are glowy! The water is - liquidy. I ran out of things to say.”   
Hand held in Adora’s, Catra pulled her back a bit of ways from the others. “What did she mean when she said we can’t leave earlier?”  
“We’re gonna have to find a fuel source that can withstand the planet’s atmosphere before we take off again. If we try to leave with the crystals we have, we’ll blow up faster than you can say ‘Hey, Adora.”   
Catra smirked and trailed her nails up the blonde’s arm. “Hey, Adora.”   
“Guys, catch up!” Bow called out. “We need you guys to keep us from getting ambushed and stabbed to death.”  
Biting back a smile, Adora swatted at the fingers tap-dancing across her shoulder. “Don’t think you’re getting out of that. Now, come on, let’s figure out what the hell is up with this place.”   
With that, the two split up. Adora headed to the front where Bow was using a mixture of some sonar device and wind-sniffing to locate the planet’s civilization, ruins or not. It didn’t seem like he was having much luck, given the way he changed direction every two minutes. However, Catra determined, it wasn’t her job to navigate, so she fell in place beside Glimmer. The young Queen was typing animated at the hand-held device before her, eyes roving every inch of the planet. Entrapta had asked all of the Rebellion’s diplomats to keep a detailed log of the planets they visited. The compiled knowledge of their environments, biodiversity, and technology, she had shouted maniacally, would be the greatest scientific anthology of all time. They took turns fulfilling the responsibility. Secretly, they all disliked this task, except for Catra, who liked to leave little notes and doodles in the log. Once, she had drawn a picture of Shadow Weaver getting tongued-down by a slimy, frog-like creature they discovered in the marsh of a wetland planet. When Entrapta video chatted them afterwards to question how Shadow Weaver had survived her fiery explosion and why she was being licked by a frog alien, Catra had received some humorous glares from her friends. Totally worth the half hour it took to explain to Entrapta that it was just a joke.   
“I don’t get it,” Glimmer stopped her hurried scribbling, “From what the Horde records we’ve decoded say, no representatives have come to or from this planet for over twenty years. Every other planet they conquered was constantly monitored, or at least occupied by clones. Why not this one?”  
“From what I can tell, there’s not really much of a population here to monitor,” Catra gestured to the wide expanse of land around her.   
Glimmer shook her head, “When you and Adora were snuggling in bed, Bow and I were doing an infrared scan of the planet. Most of it is empty except for some bugs and plants, but there’s a significant heat signature coming from the largest mountain.”   
Looking around, Catra tilted her head sideways, ears twitching, “Uh, you mean that mountain?” She indicated the direction from which they’d come.   
Glimmer cursed, “Bow! Adora! We’re going the wrong way.”   
Dumb and Dumber, as Catra sometimes called them, turned around with confused looks on their faces. Adora had pulled a blade of grass from the ground and was holding it up to her helmet like a mustache. It seemed, to Catra, as though no one could ever be this amazing.   
They made their way to the mountain with considerable effort. The ground was muddier the closer they came to the water, which splashed gently against the shore in the planet’s breeze. Going around was possible, but would require them to cut through heavy brush surrounding the base of the mountains. It would take less energy to trample through the thick mud, in case they needed to fight anything later. The closer they got to the mountain, the more nervous Catra became. A little anticipation was to be expected when encountering anything new, but this was just excessive. She was altogether anxious of what and who they might find. Keeping her eyes and ears wide open, the brunette slipped a finger through Adora’s belt loop.   
“There’s something weird about this place,” Catra complained in a low voice.   
Adora quirked her eyebrow up at this, “What do you mean?”  
“I feel like we’re being watched,” she explained, “Just stay close to me, okay? I want you right here if things go sideways.”   
A soft look overcame Adora’s features, and she cradled her lover’s face through her helmet. “We’ll be okay.” She linked their hands and gave Catra a smile, “It’s cute that you wanna protect me.”   
“Protect you? No, I want you to get big and whoop some ass for me. You’re the bodyguard in this relationship, babe.”   
They giggled as they continued to trudge through the mud. When the ground finally became flat rocks and much easier to traverse, Bow pulled out a device with an antenna on the end.   
“I’ve narrowed it down to pick up on radio signals being transmitted from a thirty mile range. Let’s try and contact their people and ask for help.”  
He pressed a handful of buttons and a loud screech began to emit from the radio. Obviously not expecting this, Bow jumped and slapped his hands over his ears. The radio fell to the ground, still shrieking in a painfully high pitch. Glimmer lunged for it, slapping at the buttons indiscriminately. This only made the machine scream higher and louder, which was a given with their luck. Catra, with her sensitive hearing, was concentrating very hard on not passing out. Seeing this, Adora’s hands abandoned her own ears and covered Catra’s own to provide an extra layer of insulation. Catra would have chided her for this, had the world not gone completely black.


	2. Chapter Two

When she woke up, her head felt like hot lava had been poured into it. Everything was fluid, and it was concerningly difficult to open her eyes. Once she was able to peel them open, she took stock of her situation.   
She was alone, lying above the covers of a bed in a small, dark room. A small table sat beside her, on it resting a glass of water. To her dismay, she discovered she was alone. Her eyes were quickly adjusting to the dark, so she was eager to spot across the room from her. Rushing to it, she began fumbling with the knob, trying to force her nails into the lock to pick it. As she pushed her body weight fully against it, the door swung open, and she fell to the floor with a thump.   
“Sorry, little one,” the source of the voice hoisted her back to her feet. “We needed to keep you sedated while we took care of your captors.”   
“Wha-” Catra’s sentence halted in its tracks as she got a good luck at the person speaking to her.   
Big ears, sharp fangs, a tail flicking at their knees.   
This person looked like her.  
She looked like this person.  
It took a moment for Catra’s brain to understand what her eyes had already seen. Growing up in the Horde, Shadow Weaver had told her she was the last of her species. The witch claimed that she had pulled her from the ruins of her planet after the Horde’s conquest, a single life saved. She should have known better than to trust the narrative her abuser fed her, but it had not occurred to her that there might be others like her out there.   
“You are disoriented. Return to sleep and I shall come for you in the morning. Goodnight, little one.”   
Before Catra could protest, she was urged back into the small room. The door closed behind the grey-haired woman, the back of her head taunting Catra through the small window.   
What did she mean, captors?   
Tugging at her hair, she tried to remember what had happened before the ended up here. A ringing in her ears told her they’d been damaged somewhat. She recalled Adora’s hands over hers, Bow’s disgruntled shouting, the fizz in the air caused by Glimmer’s magic. They’d been captured, this much was clear. But why had they been separated, and why was Catra being treated well? As she calmed down, she could see that her room was not really a prison cell. The bed was undeniably comfy, there was warm lighting activated by a switch on the wall, and a tablet rested on a shelf on the wall with books for her entertainment. She had a connected bathroom with a tub, toilet, and sink. Catra was all too familiar with prisons, and this did not resemble one. If this was how they treated their prisoners, she’d like to see how free people lived.   
Where was Adora?   
She grumbled words of annoyance as she made her way into the bathroom. Distressed as she was, she recognized that there wasn’t much she could do at the time being. Besides, the dirt caked to her lower half wasn’t very hygienic. Stripping herself of her filthy clothes, she turned on the shower with the slide of a silver latch. In the Horde, all showers had been cold and brief. Then, when she joined the Rebellion, she learned that some people took long, warm showers. While she hadn’t yet broken the habit of cleaning herself in under five minutes, she was known to take showers so hot, the steam set off their ship’s fire alarms.   
This shower had a temperature dial setting into the wall with a digital face. She cranked the heat up as high as it would go, not caring that she didn’t recognize the symbols on the thermometer. Not bothering to use the soap on the shower shelf, she stood there for as long as she could and let the water rush over her. She wanted the water to fill her ears and flush out the ringing that filled them. She wanted to saturate the braids Adora had lovingly placed on her head last night. Most of all, she wanted to know where the hell she was.   
Once she’d finished her melodramatic shower, she looked herself over in the bathroom’s floor to ceiling mirror. She hadn’t taken much damage in what she assumed had been a struggle, but there was a scrape down her left thigh where she’d fallen to the rocks. There was a small puncture at the base of her neck, presumably from whatever had been used to sedate her earlier. Much more concerning was the metal hoop that went through her right ear. It was small and silver, with a blue dot that lit up when she touched the piece of jewelry. Had they seriously tagged her?   
She wanted to scream and rip it out of her body. The last time someone had put a piece of metal in her without consent, she had fallen victim to traumatizing mind control. Horde Prime had taken a lot from her: her autonomy, her security, her hair. She’d be damned if she ever let someone do that to her or her friends ever again.   
Thankfully, she knew better than to rip the thing from her ear. At best, they’d just put in another one. At worst, they may punish her for the act.   
Catra was a strategist at the base of her, and a pretty good one at that. She had overthrown her overlord within a matter of months, then helped to take down his overlord a couple months later. If anyone was going to come up with a good enough plan to get them out of there, it was likely to be her.   
Step one, take stock of disadvantages: No clue where her friends were; tracker in her ear and probably in her friends’; no knowledge of this society’s strengths, weaknesses, or allegiances.   
Step two, take stock of advantages: She looked like these people, and they seemed to trust her.   
Step three, explore possible solutions. This was the hard part.   
The person who came into her room before believed that she had been kidnapped by Adora, Glimmer, and Bow. Perhaps they were very protective of their kind, and locked her friends up out of principal. She would explain the situation, and they could forget this silly misunderstanding. Right?  
Wrong.   
Catra never fell asleep, but was fetched in the morning by the same woman who had opened her door hours before. She jumped up immediately, still dressed in her own clothes, which she’d done her best to scrape the mud off of.   
“Beautiful child, why do you not wear the clothes of your people?” The woman asked, her grey ears drooping as if she was hurt by Catra’s appearance.   
“Listen, I think you’ve made a mistake. My friends; a blonde girl, a sparkly girl, and a boy with a bow; they’re not a threat. You can let them go.”   
The woman shook her head softly, “I know of the girls, but we have taken no boy. Your captors must have eluded you with the evil use of magic, just as they attempted to subdue our troops with such tricks. They are being held until we can try them for their use of magic.”   
Catra didn’t understand. All of the planets they’d previously visited lacked understanding of magic, but they never abhorred it. It wasn’t a crime. What had gotten into these people?   
“You will find a change of clothes in the cabinet to your left. We hope that it suits your tastes. Put it on, and I will take you to the council. They will explain further,” She shut the door once again, but Catra could see from the window that she waited patiently outside.   
If she was gonna get answers, she needed to play the part. She changed into the clothes that had been left for her. They consisted of a purple, gauzy pair of pants, as well as a fitted tank top. She hadn’t noticed it in her prior stupor, but it was bloody hot in this place. Suddenly, she was grateful for the loose, thin fabric draped over her body. Even if it did make her feel like a pretty little princess.   
Catra threw the door open and walked out, wasting no time. “Let’s go.”  
The woman led her down a series of complicated hallways, the temperature rising as they went deeper and deeper into what Catra could only assume was the center of the mountain. The walls were carved out of dark grey rock and decorated with elaborate tapestries every hundred feet or so. The ground under them was covered in a lush, woven carpet that protected their feet from any sharp rocks. Catra noted her guide’s lack of shoes, as well as the fact that she had not been provided with any for her new outfit. On Etheria, she was the only one of her peers that opted out of footwear - well, except when Perfuma went barefoot trying to deepen her connection to the soil. She’d strapped her sandals back on after stepping on one of her own rose thorns.   
Finally, they came to a set of tall double doors. The grey-haired woman placed her thumb on the center of one door, and they swung open. The ceiling of this room was at least fifty feet high and lit up by an intricate weaving of lights, like the twisting branches of a tree. Catra was led to a chair in the center of the room with restraints around the arms, however they were left undone. In a circle around her, others of her same species sat in throne-like chairs. All of them appeared to be further on in years, and the majority were women.   
A redheaded woman spoke up, her voice gravelly, “Lukkae, you bring us our lost child. But why is she in distress?”  
“It appears she is further under the sorceress’s spell than we presumed, Nayaka. She believes them to be her friends.”  
Catra started to get up, “That’s because they are my friends!”  
Lukkae, her name apparently was, pushed Catra back down by her soldiers. The council members were staring at Catra with pity, as if she were a kicked puppy. She couldn’t stand it. If they would listen to her rather than treating her like a child, this could all be resolved quite quickly.   
“Tell me, child, what is your name?” Lukkae questioned.   
She bit back a terse remark, “Catra.”   
Everyone in the room exchanged incredulous looks, and one man even snickered before the woman next to him flicked him with her black tail.   
“You must not lie to us, for your own safety and recovery,” a short woman voiced. “Truthfully, what is your name?”  
“I already told you, it’s Catra!”  
Why would these people not take her seriously? She felt incredibly juvenile in her tiny chair, while they stared down at her from their high seats.   
“Well, then, Catra, can you recall how you were taken from our home, and what led to your return?” the same woman asked.   
She had a feeling this could go on for a while if she didn’t comply. “I was raised by the Horde, and - “  
“Ah, the Horde!” Nayaka exclaimed gleefully, “It has been so long since they visited us last. Lord Prime, he has taught us so much. Has he sent a message for us?”  
All of her blood rushed straight to Catra’s legs, leaving her arms numb and eyesight white. She felt the great urge to run. Taking deep breaths, she kept herself in place by remembering that she had to rescue Adora. For now, she could play pretend. She’d spent enough time with Double Trouble to have a decent grasp of acting.   
“No message,” she insisted, “But you have to listen to me when I say the people you’ve locked up are no harm.”   
Nayaka shook her head, “My child, they are beings of magic, and thus inherently dangerous. Our people’s safety relies on their imprisonment.” The other members murmured their approval of this verdict. “What we care about right now, however, is you. We would like to place you back with your family. What is your lineage, young one?”  
This was going to take a while.


	3. Chapter Three

Cold, cramped, and clammy. Those were the three words that Adora would use to describe her situation. There was no bed in her cell, but a thin sheet spread across the wet floor. Why was the floor wet? Oh, only because of the sprinkler on the ceiling that was set off every time they tried to use magic. And Glimmer would stop using magic.   
“Glimmer, stop! If it didn’t work the first ten times, it’s not gonna work now!”  
They were locked up together, which was turning out to be equally a blessing and a curse. Glimmer had tried several different sigils, as well as some good old blasting, in an attempt to break through the glass door keeping them in place. The only problem was that something within the prison was inhibiting her magic.   
“You have to transform into She-Ra,” Glimmer begged, turning towards Adora with hair askew, “We have to get out of here.”   
Adora might have been just as frantic as Glimmer, but she figured that one person needed to be calm. She would have to wait until her best friend chilled out to have her own mental breakdown.   
“We have to think about this rationally,” the blonde insisted.   
Glimmer made an awful sound in the back of her throat, “But we don’t know where Bow is, and Catra could be anywhere, and what if they’re dead? We don’t know what’s on this planet, Bow could already have been eaten! Or choked to death! Or, or any other horrible thing!” Her voice became a wail towards the end.   
The thought of Catra being in danger made Adora sick to her stomach. She wanted, needed the brunette to be okay. Catra was resourceful, she surely would have found a way to get out of whatever sticky situation faced her. Yes, Adora promised herself, in a matter of days Catra would be knocking on her cell door with a group of rascals ready to set them free.   
“We’re not getting through this door with magic, and I can’t transform into She-Ra, I’ve already tried. We have to find another way.”  
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice said from the cell adjacent to them.   
Glimmer tensed up, immediately on her defense, “And what’s it to you?”  
They couldn’t see the face to match the voice, but from its tone, Adora imagined they were smirking. “Unless you’re native to this planet, you’d need an air-filtering helmet to escape. The atmosphere has an element that acts as an intoxicant to all foreign species, called inebriabitur. You’d be too high to walk by the time you got off the mountain. Besides, unless you wanna rip that a hole through your ear, you’re gonna need a tool to get that magic-inhibitor out”   
Adora’s fingers flew to her earlobe, finding a cold metal ring piercing through her skin.  
“Who the hell are you, anyways?” Glimmer said gruffly.   
“I’m in the same boat as you, pal,” he told her resignedly, “I’ve just been in it for a lot longer.” Several moments passed, before he started talking again. “I came here decades ago to warn the Purrsians about the Horde, but I was too late. Prime had visited them personally. To him, they were not an ancient race, but a social experiment. A thing to be toyed with. Their magic, however, was powerful, and needed to be contained if he was to seize their planet. He met with their leader under the guise of creating an alliance, but instead chipped her and drained her of her power. He corrupted their government from the inside out, banning magic and turning the public opinion against it. Some of their politicians resisted, but others jumped at the opportunity to seize power. They had always been a small planet, and weren’t very social with the rest of this system. No one knew to reach out and help them. I was their last hope, and I failed.”   
Adora’s interest piqued, “He drained her of her power? How could he do that?”  
He sighed, “Don’t ask all your questions in one go, kid. We’re gonna be here for longer than you think.”   
“No, we’re not,” Glimmer chimes in, aggravated, “We’ve got friends out there that are coming for us. We’ll get out of these cells and help the Purrsians, and you’ll come with us, as long as you aren’t evil.”   
“That’s what you think. Go to sleep, kids.”  
Three days after that conversation, he walked past their cell with cuffed hands. His guard was tall and lithe, with big ears that looked awfully familiar to Adora. The man himself, they discovered, was a freed clone. Much like Hordak’s skin had changed after years away from the hive mind, this guy’s skin was darkening. He dropped a piece of paper by their cell as he passed it, while the guard was too busy speaking on his comm to notice. He must have known he wouldn’t be coming back.   
Glimmer distracted the guard that brought their food later while Adora quickly swiped the paper into their cell with her foot. The armed woman looked at them suspiciously, but pushed their trays through the hole at the floor and left nonetheless. Probably didn’t get paid enough for this shit.  
“What’s it say?” Glimmer squealed as soon as the guard was out of earshot.   
“It’s a map,” Adora unfolded the paper and spread it out on the floor. “It displays the prison, and what guards are where at what times.”  
She flipped the paper over. In a messy scrawl, the clone had written, These people were good once. They can be again. Finish what I could not.   
It sent a chill down her back. To die with unfinished business was a terrible fate. She owed it to this man to get out of here. For their own good, she’d have to whoop this civilization’s ass.   
It was considerably hard work, teaching a civilization how to use magic. Convincing an entire people to love something they hated? It would take months, years, decades. She didn’t have that time. Catra and Bow could be anywhere. If what the clone had said about the air was true, she hoped they had their helmets on. Evidently, this was not the sort of place you’d want to be out of it in.   
A thought was forming in her head that she had yet to acknowledge. The people who brought their food, guarded their cell, took their neighbor away - they looked like Catra. There were thrilling and concerning implications behind such a realisation. Catra could find out where she came from here. She might even find her birth family. Adora wondered if that would be compelling enough to make Catra stay here. Enough to make her leave Adora.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing,” Adora replied, “I’m just ready to get out of here.”   
Glimmer rolled her eyes, “We’re way beyond you lying to me about how you feel. If you’re stressed about something, you need to tell me, instead of letting it trap you in your head. That could get you killed.” She plopped down on the floor purposefully, gesturing for Adora to join her. Once the blonde was criss-cross next to Glimmer, she pulled her best friend’s head into her lap. “Talk to me.”   
“You see these people? They look like - well, they look like Catra. I’m worried that she’s gonna find a piece of her planet that… that I can’t give to her. And maybe she’ll realize that she’d be happier on her home planet, instead of living the rest of her life moving from one place to the next,” tears pricked at Adora’s eyes as she voiced it aloud.   
So, she had some abandonment issues. And feelings of inadequacies. Could you blame her? She’d had a rough childhood.   
“That isn’t going to happen,” Glimmer smoothed her hand over Adora’s forehead, something Angella had done when she was a kid, “Catra nearly ended the whole world when she thought you had left her. It might take time, but one day you’ll see that you’re incomplete without each other.”   
Adora stayed quiet for a moment, enjoying the slide of fingers through her hair. “When we were kids, there was this one time that she woke me up in the middle of the night. She dragged me out into the hallways until we ended up outside, on the roof of the training compound. I was terrified that we were gonna get in trouble. But she had this crazy grin on her face, and I saw that she had stolen us a blanket and some yellow rations from the kitchen - they tasted as close to cake as the Horde had. We stayed up the rest of the night shoving food in each other’s faces and laughing about what would happen if Shadow Weaver saw us.” Thinking back on this early memory, she smiled. “Even back then, she was a troublemaker. I think that was when I started to fall in love with her, although I was too young to know that.”   
Glimmer scoffed, “You grew up in an oppressive military complex, and still went on more dates than me.”   
“Oh, so all those times Bow came knocking on your window, it was solely for the Rebellion?”   
“No, but - !” Glimmer blushed at Adora’s knowing look.   
“You two can only hold out for so much longer,” Adora sat up to look her in the eye, “Either you can take control of the moment and confess in your own way, or let him become a blubbering mess trying to confess to you. It’ll entertain me either way.”   
“I’m worried that I’m being too greedy, by wanting more. What if he really does think of me as just a friend? I’ll ruin the friendship if I come on too strong.”   
Adora placed a reassuring hand on the young queen’s shoulder. “Other than you, I know Bow better than anyone else in the world. He’d break his own bow if it meant he’d get to kiss you.”   
What Glimmer didn’t know, and it wasn’t Adora’s place to tell, was that Bow had, on several occasions, burst into Adora and Catra’s room to inform them of something Glimmer had said to him. In more than one instance, he had seen a little more than he’d bargained for, and retreated with his hands covering his eyes. When he had found the scene innocent to stick around, he would jump onto their bed and begin to overanalyze his most recent interaction with the fourth member of their group. It was the same conversation just about every time. Adora told him to tell Glimmer how he felt, Catra told him to try and kill her a couple times, then confess (“What, it worked for me!” she’d shout.) Both of her best friends were too damn shy to take the next step with each other.   
“When I see him again, I’ll do it,” she whispered.


	4. Chapter Four

Bow was utterly exhausted. He hadn’t stopped moving in at least twelve hours, his preserved food was left on the ship, and his shirt had gotten ripped by a thorny vine thousands of steps back. He couldn’t get in contact with anyone off planet, and to top it all off, he was alone. The planet’s inhabitants had taken his friends, but didn’t give a second thought to him. A tall dude with Catra-ears had hit him over the head, and when he woke up, the girls were gone. He knew they wouldn’t have left him, so that left one answer: they’d been taken hostage. It didn’t take him long to act, pulling out his tablet and searching for the second biggest heat signature on the planet. If so much as approaching the biggest mountain resulted in capture, there was no way he’d be able to sneak in and rescue them without adequate intel. He needed to find people, get information, and make up a plan.   
He kept walking until he reached the base of a mountain a couple miles away from where they’d started. From what his scanner said, there was a pretty big amount of heat coming from it. This could either mean that there was hot gas in there, which might severely injure him, or that there were living beings in there. He hoped for the latter and began to climb it, looking for a way in. That came in the form of an opening about three feet wide and tall, which was obviously a passageway by the footprints leading up to it. He had to crawl to move in it, with his bow and arrows tied to hang under his belly and his tablet in one hand. It was, one might say, less than ideal. Especially given that he didn’t have a spare hand with which to hold a flashlight, and was forced to rely on the light of his tablet for illumination. He set a mental reminder to ask Entrapta for a headlamp next time he saw her. If he saw her.   
It was easy to get lost in morbid thought while travelling in the dark, claustrophobic stretch of what felt like an endless tunnel.   
He tried to think positively. When he rescued Glimmer, he was going to make fun of her for months. She was set to become the best sorceress of Etherian history, and she couldn’t take down a couple foot soldiers? He giggled despite himself. For all the mocking he had planned, he thought the first thing he would do would be to kiss her, just like he’d wanted to since before the war even ended. He’d kiss her and tell her how he felt and if she didn’t feel the same, that was fine. He could live with being just friends, as long as he got to stay close to her.   
Although, it would be nice to wake up for once with her face on his chest instead of just floating around in his head.   
He held onto this thought as he emerged from the narrow crawl space. He’d stumbled directly into what appeared to be a pub full of the Catra species. People drank from fizzing cups, laughed loudly, and threw darts at the wall. At first, no one took notice of his entrance. However, as he moved through the room, people began to point at him and whisper. This was understandable, seeing as he was the only person in the room without a tail, and also had a helmet covering his head.   
“Here, take this,” the bartender pushed a metal ring his way, “Put it in your nose and it will filter the air for you. Then you can buy a drink from me, and leave a good tip while you are at it, okay?” He winked and turned back to cleaning the counter.   
Bow hesitated. He didn’t know enough to trust these people, but he needed them to trust him if he was to get out of here alive. He picked up the ring and turned it over in his hands, asking, “What happens if I breathe the air without it?”  
“You?” The bartender laughed and slicked his brown hair back with one hand. “By the looks of you, you have never taken or drank anything more powerful than apple juice. One breath of this air, to a non-native, is ten times stronger than any drink I could give you. Even the filtration system on that helmet of yours will not hold up for long.”   
In different circumstances, that might have seemed like a good time. Unfortunately, he was alone in a bar on a foreign planet. Thus, he removed his helmet and slipped the ring into his nose. He twitched his nostrils a couple times to get adjusted to it before speaking.   
“So, what’s the deal with this place?”   
“It is a pub. You eat, you drink, you play with sharp things. Pretty self-explanatory, I thought,” the bartender teased as he pushed drinks down the counter to a busboy.   
Bow drummed his fingers against the stone counter. Everything in here was carved from the stone of the mountain, lending it a rustic look. The only thing that betrayed this simplistic style was the tech that littered the place, letting him know that this species was well up to speed on modern invention. In fact, he saw a good number of things he hadn’t previously on Etheria or other planets. For one, the ring in his nose. “I think you know I meant more than that. There’s a city center no more than fifteen miles from here, and yet you guys hang out here, hidden away. What drives you to isolate yourselves?”  
“It would be a lot easier for you if you did not ask these questions,” the bartender said. “But evidently if you have to, there must be a reason why. Come here and I will introduce you to my friends.”  
He walked around the bar, untying his black apron on the way. His blue button up was tucked in and belted, jeans pressed with lines down the front, and dress shoe strings tied into bunny ears. Bow appreciated the detail-orientation of the man’s style, but thought the outfit would be much cooler if the shirt were half its length.   
He led Bow to a group casually chatting in the corner.   
“Lasa!” a dark haired man called out upon the bartender’s arrival at their table, “Who is this?”   
“Um, I’m Bow,” he replied, not sure what he was doing talking to these people.   
“Bow here would like to know what the deal is with this planet,” Lasa explained as the other male wrapped an arm around his waist, “I thought you guys would be the best to explain it to him.”   
A girl with blonde hair that fell to her hips tugged Bow into the booth beside her, “This place is safe, but we cannot shout any of this. Lasa, keep watch. If anyone looks at us funny, offer them a free drink and spike it so hard they do not remember tonight.”   
Ten minutes later, Bow understood why his friends had been taken, and not him. As a fiercely protective race, they had seen the four teens walking and immediately assumed that Catra was taken hostage. He supposed it might’ve looked that way, what with Adora’s hands being gripped tightly around Catra’s head when the cat warriors showed up. They rushed in to theoretically rescue her, leading to the fight that knocked him out. Glimmer and Adora had apparently attempted to fight back with magic, which was strictly forbidden on Purrsia.   
The patrons of the bar around him were people who disagreed with the ban on magic. The older ones had been around for the Horde’s infiltration of their government, and managed to escape whatever method of brain control Prime had employed. The younger ones were a mixture of the older rebel’s children and people who grew up on the inside, hearing of the cause and choosing to betray their government.  
“What you have to keep in mind is that the Purrsian hatred of magic is not just legal, it is cultural,” the girl, Senshi, explained. “Using magic here is like slapping a child. No matter if you are convicted for it or not, from that point on, you are a menace to society.”   
In other words, it was going to take more than a couple She-Ra parades to get the Purrsians back on track.   
“And you all do what? Sit here and drink and wait it out?” Bow questioned.   
The dark haired man shook his head warily. “You think we have not tried before to bring magic back to our home? Six years ago, a group marched on the capitol, demanding that the people know the truth about their magic. However, there is corruption within the government, too deeply ingrained to scrape out with your nails. The rebels were shot dead before the public eye.” He swallowed down the remainder of his drink, “My mother was one of those rebels.”  
“I’m sorry for your loss, but you can’t just let her die in vain,” Bow urged, “The government has my friends, and I’m gonna find a way to get them out. And when I do, we’re gonna help you guys. Horde Prime is dead. It’s time for Purrsia to be free.”   
The two rebel’s eyes snapped towards each other.   
“Horde Prime is dead?” Senshi gripped his forearm, digging her claws into his skin.   
“Well, that means - ”   
Senshi cut him off, “We thought that our leaders were still chipped. If Prime is dead, that means they have continued their loyalty to him of their own accord.”   
Bow considered this, then said, “Are you saying there are traitors within your government?”   
At that moment, Lasa rushed over to them, a rag in hand, pretending to wipe down the table next to them. “If you are talking about the government, you need to shut the hell up. A councilman just walked in.” He acted as though he was focusing on scrubbing up a spill.   
“They never come out this far,” Senshi cursed. “If they are here, it means they are following something, or someone. We must go.”   
They rose from the table silently and began making their way to the exit. Bow stared dumbly at their backs until Senshi grabbed his bowstring and dragged him after her. With the dark haired man, whose name, he learned, was Kharim, taking up the front, and Senshi in the back, Bow was sandwiched between the two. This turned out to be a bit of an annoyance, as Kharim’s tail regularly thwacked against the archer’s face. It took them longer to exit the bar than it had taken Bow to get in, but finally they emerged into the starry night. The Purrsians began walking around to the other side of the mountain without sparing an explanation to their companion.   
“Hey!” Bow scurried to keep up. “Where are we going?”  
“There is a small city within the next mountain over, where those who have been outcasted by the government reside. We will take the long way to ensure no one has followed us, and then return home. Lasa will join us at daybreak, when the pub closes.”   
Kharim looked worried, constantly glancing over his shoulder at the exit from which they came. Bow assumed that he was either worried about the bartender they’d left behind, or that they were about to get jumped.   
“When we get there, I need to gather a group of people to storm the castle. Those bastards killed my mom, and they are going to pay,” Kharim said determinedly.   
Senshi stopped in her tracks. “Kharim! You cannot be serious. If you kill, then you will be no better than them.”   
“Yes, I will be. I did not repress an entire population for decades. This act may be selfish, but it is in honor of the many lives they have already taken. We must change the course of history,” He grabbed her hand. “Think of your sister. Do you not want to create safety for those like her to come?”   
“Turoki could still be alive,” she bit out, ripping her hand from his. “Do not speak as though she is gone. I will help you, for this reason alone.”   
Bow understood so little of the conversation, but was delighted to hear that he wouldn’t have to do this alone. “Let’s save my friends, and save this world. I love a good adventure!”  
They sent him sharp glances. Tough crowd…


	5. Chapter Five

“The monarchy was… demoted due to their dangerous reliance on magic. Horde Prime assisted us in instituting a congressional government, electing leaders who could adequately carry out the Horde’s vision. Do you understand, Catra?”  
Catra was nodding off at the lush desk in front of her. Seven days had passed. Every morning, she was fetched and brought to a dimly lit library to learn about Purrsian history, technology, and culture. She had no idea why they were spending this much energy on her, but all of the Purrsians around her insisted that her education was of the utmost importance. At first, it was fun to discover more about her birthplace. However, the lessons quickly turned into a Horde indoctrination. Not to mention, she had absolutely no freedom here. It was worse than the Fright Zone, which was really saying something. Lukkae spent at least ten hours a day teaching her, broken up in the middle by a midday meal and nap. Apparently midday naps were standard here - one of the only elements of her past week that Catra could get behind. When she had to use the restroom during lesson time, Lukkae waited for her outside the bathroom. They ate dinner every day with the council members. It was an hour of stiff conversation, which Catra hated more than most other things. After dinner, she was expected to write a page-long report on what she’d learned that day.  
Once all of her daily tasks were finished, Catra was locked in her bedroom. Like a damsel in distress, she tossed and turned through the whole night. Sleep was impossible without Adora by her side, with Adora likely in mortal danger. She’d been trying repeatedly to access a map of the capitol and free her dumb girlfriend, to no avail. There was no way to sneak information when a set of eyes followed her at all times.   
“I get it. Look, can we cut today’s lesson short? I’ve barely seen any of this place, and I think it’ll be valuable knowledge,” Catra chewed anxiously at the tablet pen in her hand. If she could make an excuse to explore, she could find Adora.   
Lukkae gave her a pitying look, “Councilmember Nakaya dictated that you must receive a full education before you may see any of Purrsia. People… well, let us just say that some people are prone to misinformation. You must know the truth about your home.”   
“Then why haven’t you told me why it’s so important I learn all this, or why I’m under such strict supervision?” She stood up, “I’m not listening to another word you say until you tell me why I’m here.”   
Her grey tail twitched uncomfortably. “It is really not my place…” She backed away, as if fearful of what Catra might do to her. (Good, Catra thought, I’m about to slit some necks if I don’t get answers.)  
“Lukkae, I need to know. Or else I’ll leave right now, and be gone before you can call for help.”   
This threat seemed to work, as Lukkae sat back down demurely.   
“Beautiful child,” tears filled Lukkae’s eyes, “You are of utmost importance to this planet’s history. Sit, for you will need your strength to hear this.”  
Catra did as she was told, her heart suddenly beating out of her ribcage.   
“Twenty years ago, we were visited by a great army of identical men. The strongest of them, Horde Prime, requested a treaty with our leader. Queen Muttassi was no fool. Even then, we were isolated, and had not received warning from surrounding planets. But she knew not to listen solely to the technological signals of our scientists. She harbored an intimate relationship with the movements of the universe, and spoke to the stars when she took her astral form. For some time, she had sensed an evil coming our way. However, none of the council people heeded her warnings. They urged her to meet with Prime when he landed on our surface.   
“She complied for her daughter’s sake. The young princess was with child, and the father was a council member. The princess trusted her partner completely, leading her to convince her mother of his wisdom. When Queen Muttassi met with Prime, he experimented on her. He thrust her astral form from her physical body, destroying her corporeal self. In doing this, he had intended to harvest her magic. Of course, this failed entirely. Now a shell of a woman, her body was useless. Her spirit escaped to the stars, joining her ancestors in the sky.   
“Magic is only accessible to a portion of our population, and varies from soul to soul. After the Queen’s death, the council, with the assistance of the Horde, rounded up as many magical persons as they could for the slaughter. They envied the possession of magic, and found it a barrier to their control of this planet. What they did not understand was that you pull out a plant from the roots to kill it, not just trim its limbs. Fringe groups survived, and some gave birth to magical persons. In response to this, magic was outlawed, with the penalty of death. Anyone who spoke against the Council was taken into custody, and came out changed. No one could resist long enough to gain any traction.   
One life in particular was spared. The Council kept the princess alive long enough to give birth, before she was murdered by the child’s own father. He had exploited her, and intended to raise the child to gain the public’s trust. The morning after her mother’s death, however, the child disappeared. Thinking he had disposed of the child, the other council members turned on him for ruining their plans. He was executed three days later. An entire family, wiped out in not even a week.”  
Catra didn’t understand. What the hell did this have to do with her? She knew now that Shadow Weaver’s story about her being the last of her species was a blatant lie, but there was no way that her or Hordak could have pulled her from this place. Etheria was light years away.  
“Have you yet found the clarity you sought, my child? You are the descendant of a great leader, and a great sorceress as well. You are, in fact, Muttasi’s spitting image. If I knew no better, I would believe the Horde had used their cloning technology on the Queen. But, you now see the peril you are in. The Council hopes still to manipulate you to their use.”  
It made no sense. Then again, nothing in Catra’s life ever had. She was quickly learning to cope with unexpected chapters being added to her backstory.   
She narrowed her eyes to slits, “You know all of this, and you still bend to their will. What’s in it for you, huh?”  
Lukkae ran a weary hand down her face. “My story is no joyous thing. I mentioned to you the fringe groups? We attempted time after time to enact enough social change that we could overthrow the Council. I, myself, have an inclination towards the use of fire. My powers were limited to begin with, and never had the opportunity to develop amidst government surveillance. I was taken during a march on the capitol years ago. For months, I remember laying in bed with the most awful ache encompassing my body. They were, just as the Horde attempted previously, trying to drain my body of its magic. It hadn’t occurred to them that magic does not reside within an individual. No, magic belongs to the planet, and is entrusted to certain beings for temporary use.   
“When the Council realized that I could not deliver them my powers in a bottle, they chipped me. I was a servant, a pawn, no longer a person. Without my consent, I killed for them. I cleaned their shoes. I even raised their children, all while operating on a code of instructions transmitted through my chip to my possessed body. I was in there the whole time, but unable to control myself. Until one day, when a councilman dropped his tablet unknowingly on my neck while I scrubbed the dining hall’s floors. That day, I was once again able to move, speak, and breathe for myself once more. But I knew that my life would be wasted if I attempted to escape; there was no way to get out alive. I am an old woman. Besides, I have a son out there, whom I should like to return to. So I have bided my time, waiting for the right person to come along and help me take these fiends out.”  
“I want to help you,” Catra said. “You’ve spoken a whole lot since we met, but you haven’t heard my side of the story yet. The Horde is gone. My friends and I killed Prime a year ago, and now we’re going around trying to repair the damage he did. That would include dismantling a corrupt government he put in power, I guess. The two girls the Council have locked up are very powerful, and very important to me. If we can free them, we can save Purrsia, and get you back to your son.”   
“To open the barrier of a jail cell, you must have your fingerprint entered into the system. This is reserved for the most trusted guards, thus my print will be of no service. Bearing that you are able to get your print in, I can lead you to where you need to go,” Lukkae suggested.   
Catra nodded. She’d knock a couple people out and enter her fingerprint in herself, if she had the slightest understanding of Purrsia’s technology or written word. Although they spoke the standard tongue, they wrote in what appeared to be a much more ancient language.   
For the next half hour before they were expected for dinner, Catra and Lukkae worked on their plan. The Council intended to introduce Catra to the Purrsian upper class at a party at the end of the week. That same evening, her royal status was to be announced to the attendees. After this, an elaborate initiation ceremony was planned. Part of this entailed giving her access to the rest of the capitol, hopefully including the prison. Leading up to then, they would work on perfecting their escape route, and attempt to contact any surviving rebel groups.   
Catra begged Lukkae to take her to the prison after dinner, if only just to see Adora through her cell’s barrier.   
“If I bring you down there now, I fear that you will blow our cover, child,” she placed a comforting hand on Catra’s shoulder. “However, I will deliver a note to your beloved, if this is any consolation.”   
That night, Catra obsessed over what she could say to convey to Adora how she felt. She wanted to display how worried she was for Adora’s safety, without panicking the blonde. She wanted to express how much she loved Adora, without it seeming like she was saying goodbye. Ugh. All of this was way too complicated for her tired brain. She picked up the pen and small slip of paper Lukkae had given to her, and wrote concisely.   
Hey, Adora.


	6. Chapter Six

Adora swiped the note from the floor the next morning when the guards brought her and Glimmer breakfast. For the first time in a long time, she openly wept with tears of joy. Catra was okay. She was okay, and she was coming for them.   
Glimmer slept through Adora’s weeping, having stayed up late trying to blast her way through the prison walls. Not that there was a concept of “late” in here, or really of time at all. Their only benchmark for how long they had been locked up were the meals slipped into their cell each day.   
Yesterday - or, at least what Adora believed to be yesterday - Glimmer had attempted to chat up the guard. The rotation schedule that their former neighbor had left behind told them the guards’ names, and that the only way to open and close a cell was with a high-ranking guard’s thumbprint. There was no key to steal, so they would need someone on the outside to let them out. If Catra were here, she would’ve already cut someone’s finger off to escape. But Catra wasn’t here, which led to the following scene.   
“So,” Glimmer bit her lip as she looked the guard up and down, “you come here often?”  
The guard was a young boy, gangly and with a crackling voice. “Uh, I walk this rotation every three hours so yeah, I - I guess.”  
Glimmer pretended to laugh riotously, clutching her stomach. “You are so funny. You could be, like, a professional joke teller. A comedier. Comedian? One of those,” she giggled again.   
“You know, that’s what I told my parents! But, you know, my mom is a guard, so they wanted me to follow in her footsteps. It’s - yeah, you didn’t need to know all that…” he trailed off in embarrassment, beginning to edge away from the pink-haired girl.   
“Don’t go! I think you should follow your dreams. If your parents don’t get it, then that’s their loss.”   
“Y-yeah,” he puffed up his chest, “I’ll talk to them tonight! Hey, thanks!”  
In summary, that didn’t work out. Instead of convincing a guard to free them, they convinced some kid to quit his job and disappoint his family. It was hard to talk strategy when they had absolutely no privacy, though. They had no choice but to assume that the Horde clone had been taken away for communicating with them. After all, he’d been there for years before they came. It was no coincidence that he disappeared so soon after they came.   
Back to present, Adora had calmed herself down. She turned to wake Glimmer, and saw her friend laying on her back staring blankly at the ceiling.   
“Glimmer?”  
“I have not bathed in days. I’m wearing the same filthy clothes that we trampled through mud in. My back hurts because we’ve been sleeping on a stone floor. We’re being fed flavorless mush. My breath stinks so bad, and we have no idea where our friends are. Adora, we have got to get out of here,” Glimmer sat up, tears in her eyes. “I love you, but if I have to use the bathroom with you five feet from me one more time, I’m going to kill us both.”   
Adora sat down with her legs criss-crossed. “I know it’s hard, but we’re gonna get out of this. Catra got a note to me somehow. That means she’s inside the capitol, and she’s doing what she can to get to us.”  
“I miss Bow,” Glimmer sniffles.   
The girls sat close, doing their best to comfort one another. It was true that their conditions were less than ideal. Adora’s hair was matted because she’d only been able to comb it with her fingers, her body-odor was probably becoming nauseating, and she ached from the combination of their sleeping struggles and inability to move around much. But she had a reason to hold out hope, now. Her reckless, brilliant girlfriend was on the case. She had full faith in Catra’s abilities, but worried about the lengths she might go to in order to retrieve her loved ones.   
“A couple years before you joined the rebellion,” Glimmer whispers, “I snuck out through my bedroom window at night. I was fourteen, and angry because my mom refused to fight back against the Horde. We’d just received news of a village being conquered, and it broke my heart to think of the lives lost. Anyways, I stumbled through the forest determined to bump into a Horde soldier and give them a piece of my mind. Instead, I got lost. Like, really, really lost. I was terrified because I’d never been that far from the castle all alone before.” She took a steadying breath. “I was crying on the forest floor when someone tapped on my shoulder. I jumped up, ready to defend myself, and there was Bow. He’d gotten into an argument with his dads about not wanting to be a historian, and was planning to enter Bright Moon and ask for an apprenticeship. We ended up talking until sunrise about parents, the Horde, and a whole bunch of other stuff. He’s been half of me since then.”   
They sat like that for a while, trading stories. Some were happy, some were sad. It didn’t necessarily matter the content of the tale, so long as it distracted them from the situation at hand.   
“And I told Mermista, ‘You can’t keep giving people aquariums for their birthdays. Frosta’s already frozen her fish to death, Scorpia knocked on the glass too hard and shattered it, and Catra ate hers!’”  
“Yuck!” Glimmer feigned gagging.   
“I know, but at least she cooked it first, otherwise I don’t know if I could kiss that m - ”  
Adora was cut off when three guards arrived at their cell, carrying long weapons. Glimmer and Adora looked at each other nervously, scrambling to their feet. Once again, Glimmer tried to summon her magic, but couldn’t. Adora searched deep within herself for She-Ra, but apparently the ancient warrior was on vacation, for she was unresponsive to the blonde’s internal pleas. When the barrier of their cell fell, one of the guards stepped inside.   
“Put these devices in your nostrils, and follow us. You are to appear before the Council for trial. You are not to speak,” she opened her palm to reveal two rings.   
“Why should we trust you enough to use these?” Adora asked.  
“They will filter your breathing,” the guard said exasperatedly, “We are on a schedule, so do not feel free to take your time.”   
When they finished popping the rings in their noses, they were blindfolded and handcuffed. It was no use to fight back, or to run. They had no weapons or powers to defend themselves with, and the map they’d been given was hidden under the sheet on their cell floor. After what felt like an hour of walking, they were thrust into chairs with restraints snapped around their wrists and ankles. The blindfold was removed, and as Adora’s vision adapted, she took in the details of the room around her.   
Purrsians sat in large, elegant chairs in a semicircle around them. The space was moodily lit, and decidedly balmy. Adora would find it a pleasant reprieve from the frigid air of the prison, were she not immensely stressed out. A woman with cropped red hair rested at the center of the seating arrangement, looking at the prisoners as a demented kid might look at a bug it was about to squash. Adora gulped.   
“Esteemed members of the Council, we are here today to view the case against prisoners #3047 and #3048. They are charged with criminal use of magic, as well as public endangerment,” she smiled wryly. “However, before we begin, we have a guest who will be sitting in on today’s trial. Lukkae, bring in the heir.”  
A grey-haired woman, who had been standing obediently at the entrance, hurriedly opened the double doors. In walked Catra, adorned in billowy clothes and gripping a tablet in her hand. Adora’s eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to shout at her lover. She halted when Catra flashed her eyes warningly, silently communicating that they needed to play along.   
“Dear child, as part of your education, we thought it would be valuable for you to witness a real Purrisan trial. Please seat yourself comfortably, and we shall begin.”   
The trial was unsurprisingly short. Adora and Glimmer plead guilty to use of magic, which was then backed up by footage of them attempting to escape from their prison cell with magic. The council members chatted amongst themselves for a few minutes before delivering the sentence.   
“By vote of the Purrsian high council, these prisoners have been found guilty on all charged accounts. They shall be sentenced to execution,” her blonde ears twitched gleefully as she drew in nearer to the girls. “Additionally, the council has decided to put the punishment of our prisoners to further use. To display our loyalty to our people and our dedication to their safety, we have decided to execute these offenders publicly at the exhibitionary gala in six day’s time.”   
Adora was more annoyed than afraid. Plenty of people had tried to kill her before, so it wasn’t near a new predicament for her. However, the deceitful attitude of the council was pissing her off. How did publicly killing two innocent girls display their care for their people? She saw straight through the ruse. Having grown up on the inside of a corrupt regime, she knew the tips and tricks of asserting your dominance. A public execution was nothing more than a display of power, or a petty threat. It revealed to her that the Purrsian government’s ideological system was weak - they maintained their control not through public support, but through public subjugation.   
“You call yourself leaders,” Glimmer hissed beside Adora, “But you’re nothing of the sort. True leaders do not repress the freedom and diversity of their people. Anyone can see that you’re all a bunch of cowards.” She finished off staring the woman who delivered their sentence straight in the eyes.   
The smack resounded loudly throughout the room. Glimmer’s head was knocked backwards, and when she pulled it back up, blood was trickling from her nose. The blonde councilwoman smiled serenely at the sight, leaning in until her mouth was inches from Glimmer’s ear. “I will delight in your demise.” She wiped the blood from Glimmer’s upper lip.  
“Take them back to their cell.”  
****  
Catra returned to her room after the trial and wept until there were no tears left to weep. To see Adora as she was - dirty, tired, subdued - was worse than any physical pain she’d ever endured. Even that one time that Lonnie caught her tail on fire, and she had to wear bandages on it for a month.   
When she was finally able to pick herself up from the bedroom’s floor, she made her way sluggishly into the bathroom. She took one look at herself in the mirror and wanted to vomit. Her hair was basically matted to her head, seeing as she hadn’t washed or brushed it since they touched down on this forsaken planet.   
She was growing tired of this battle with her hair. Her whole life, it had been a high maintenance job. In the Horde, she was required to keep it neat, brushing it after her shower each night. It wasn’t so much a part of her as it was a task to fulfill, as most actions were viewed during her childhood. When Horde Prime possessed her, her short hair became a symbol of the most basic sovereignty she had been robbed of. For the past year, growing her hair out was a way of defying what Prime had done to her. It was a symbol of her survival. Although, she couldn’t be bothered to deal with it, without the Horde threatening to cut her rations in half for being untidy. In part, as well, she neglected to take care of her own hair because it brought Adora closer to her.   
Adora wasn’t here right now.   
In a moment of uncontrolled passion, she picked up the hair brush from the counter and launched it at the bathroom’s mirror. The mirror shattered into large pieces, which narrowly avoided cutting Catra into bits. She snatched a shard from the floor and began sawing off large chunks of her hair. Without a mirror to look into, she cut blindly, unevenly. Once she was satisfied with her work, she walked out of the bathroom, careful not to step on glass, and collapsed into bed. Her vision grew dark. Whatever the consequence of her breakdown was, she decided, she’d deal with it in the morning.   
Catra slept deeply, dreaming of blondes, parties, and an old woman who lived in the stars.


	7. Chapter Seven

Music filled the room to the brim. Sweat dripped from Bow’s back as he danced with Senshi to the quick rhythm, while Kharim chatted up a group of people nearby.   
“You are a very talented dancer!” Senshi shouted over the joyous music.   
Bow dipped her and twisted her out, using his new position to steal a glance at the aristocrats lounging on the couch to their right.   
He tried not to feel guilty for having fun while his friends were undoubtedly suffering. Bow, Kharim, and Senshi had arrived at a rebel outpost three days prior, where the two Purrsians lived. That night, they had gone around collecting trusted people to help them in their infiltration of the capitol. Once they had amassed ten helpers, they traveled to the central city that surrounded the capitol mountain. They’d been there for two days now, gathering intel and fostering relationships with the locals. Now, they were dancing at a fancy club within the city that was frequented by the Purrsian elite and upper class. Rich business people, royal-adjacents who had abandoned their magic for government loyalty, flirty socialite, and a number of other characters occupied the club.   
Bow pulled Senshi in again, “I’m gonna go grab drinks, see if I can’t shake down the bartender. You go check out the girl with the clipboard.”   
Who brought a clipboard into the club? Especially in a society that relied mostly on tablets for writing… it was suspicious.   
“Hey, can I just have a couple glasses of water?”  
“Sure thing, bud!” The bartender said warmly, pushing the cups over the counter. “Hey, I have not seen you here before. You are new to the planet?”   
“Yeah, yeah my cousin lives here,” Bow took a long sip of water to avoid elaborating. Also, he had been dancing flawlessly, and was pretty damn thirsty.   
“Pretty busy night, huh? We even have councilwoman Nayaka celebrating with us tonight!”   
Glass now empty, he passed it back to the hyper bartender. “Celebrating what?”   
The bartender gave him a look like he’d said something hilarious, “Do not tell anyone, as it is being kept under wraps until the gala, but… they have found the lost princess!” Squealing excitedly, they clapped their hands together.   
“Lost princess? Sorry, I’m really new here..”   
“The lost princess, who was taken by the rebels when Horde Prime helped us dismantle the evil monarchy,” they explained eagerly, “She was only a child when the transition took place, but the Horde wanted us to raise her to be a great leader. This, however, did not happen, as she was stolen from right within the capitol. It was believed that she had been raised by rebels, who would force her to learn magic to overthrow the council. Yet, she has been returned to us, and resides within the capitol as we speak! Her return is to be announced to the public in three days, at a celebratory gala.”   
“Wow, that’s great…” Bow trailed off, already having an idea of who this lost princess might end up being.   
“And to demonstrate the princess’s fidelity to her people,” they giggled, “they will be allowing her to execute two dangerous, magical prisoners!” They put a finger over their mouth and made a shushing sound, “But you cannot tell anyone I told you, because it is a surprise!”   
Bow faked laughing along, “Sounds like it’s gonna be a pretty crazy party.” He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This guy was obviously very low on the totem pole, and enjoyed the feeling of importance he got from knowing about the council’s little surprise.   
At that moment, Senshi came hurriedly over to him. She drained a glass of water completely, panting, before announcing, “So I just danced with the head of the council, so forgive me, but I think I know why she is here - ”  
“Ugh, is councilwoman Nayaka not the best?” The bartender butted in.  
Senshi and Bow exchanged an annoyed glance.   
“She came up to me earlier to order a drink and I was like, obviously it is on the house!”   
Senshi promptly ignored the bartender, turning her shoulder to close them out of the conversation. “She is here to collect requests from the upper class, in secret. They are planning to torture prisoners publicly.”   
This finally put a spark of fear in Bow’s heart. He knew that he could get to them before they were murdered, and that if he couldn’t, Catra would. But torture? He shivered to think of the things they might do to Glimmer while he struggled to reach her. Were these people truly depraved enough to considered torture a viable form of entertainment?   
“We need to act as soon as possible,” Bow said lowly, “I’m more than willing to bet that those prisoners are my friends. We’ve gotta get them out of there.”   
Shaking her head, Senshi replied, “We will bide our time until the gala. This is the only time we will be able to enter thirteen people into the capitol without suspicion. I understand that you are worried. I know how it feels for the capitol to take someone you love. But it is in their best interest that we wait.”   
“Wait until when, exactly? Wait until they’re missing fingers and toes, or wait until it’s more convenient for you? You took your sweet time to care about stopping this government of yours. Who's to say that you won’t wait until it’s too late?”  
Senshi turned from him and stormed off angrily. Bow followed unwillingly, knowing that he’d be screwed if he got stuck at this bar with no one he knew. As they walked past Kharim on the way out, Senshi grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging it along. The man grumbled in disagreement.   
“I had just gained those aristocrat’s trust! They were just about to tell me about the lost princess, and - ”  
Bow screamed out, “How many people did that bartender tell?!”  
“Shut up, shut the hell up!” Sensh yelled, coming to a stop in the street outside the bar. She rubbed her temples pensively. “Bow, you come to us, and you judge us for what you perceive to be inaction. In reality, you have no idea what life has been like on our planet since the Horde came.  
“Those of us who must live outcasted from society are glad enough just to survive. We must cloak ourselves from the government. When a person is born into magic, they must make the choice either to risk their life or repress who they are indefinitely. It is not just a nuisance for a magical person to deny their abilities, in many cases, it is painful. My own sister chose to put herself on the line learning to hone her magic, the magic of hypnotism. But, you see, they found her, and they took her. I have no choice to assume that she is… that she is gone.   
“This is why we stay in the shadows. Not out of convenience, or laziness. But because they have taken from us before, and we fear what else they might take from us again.”   
Breathing heavily at the end of her speech, she sunk into the stone outer wall of the club.   
“Your sister,” Bow asks, “How old was she?”  
Senshi sighs. “We are twins. She was born with our mother’s gifts, while the talent overlooked me. We fought constantly growing up, even though we were best friends. We would pretend to be one another to get around tasks we did not like, and to play pranks on the other kids in our city. Two little blonde nightmares, we were.”   
Kharim sat down next to the girl, knocking their knees together comfortingly. He glared at Bow for upsetting Senshi.   
“I’m sorry for what I said, I guess I was too distracted by my own problems to understand what you’ve been through.”   
“I am sorry that I blew up on you,” she reached out and took his hand. “We have all suffered much due to the Horde’s impact. But we cannot let our miseries define us. We are stronger than the damage we have taken. And, together, we can save your friends, and our people.”   
“Let us break into the castle, and cut the council from their necks to their bellies,” Kharim said excitedly.   
Senshi grimaced, “Maybe not to the same extent, but, yes, what he said.”


	8. Chapter Eight

When Lukkae awoke Catra the morning after her mini meltdown, she shrieked at the sight of her hair. Once she’d regained her breath, she disappeared for a moment, coming back with a proper pair of scissors. They then spent the next thirty minutes cleaning up Catra’s hair. It took a lot of back and forth, and some hissing on Catra’s part, before she was finally deemed presentable. The finished product was about an inch longer than Horde Prime had cut it a year prior, just long enough to slick back with her fingers. With the new mirror that Lukkae brought in, she examined her reflection. The new hair looked fine. She wasn’t often one for physical vanity, but she thought Adora might like to run her hands through it.   
She replayed the image of Adora being tugged out of the courtroom over and over again in her head. Catra found herself wishing that the exhaustion had caught up to her a day later than it had, so that she wouldn’t have had to stay up all night the night after Lukkae fixed her hair, rocking back and forth on the floor. Since then, she was trying to convince herself that losing sleep would be no use, and would only rob her of the energy she needed to free her girlfriend. She missed the nights that the Best Friend Squad would stay up joking around on the ship, playing hide and go seek and gossiping about the people they’d met like little kids. For most of her life, Catra believed that the only person she would ever love would be Adora. That was before she learned that there was more than one kind of love. In fact, there was an endless variation of love, and she was lucky enough to have experienced two of them.   
If they were all together right now, Bow would be plucking out a rhythm on his bowstring, humming some folk song along to it. Glimmer would be curled up, enthusiastically writing a letter to her father. Micah made sure to keep in contact with her no matter how far away they flew. Adora and Catra would probably be wrestling, working out the last of the days’ energy so that they could sleep through the night. Adora would forget her strength and push a little too hard, and although it wouldn’t hurt, Catra would feign pain. When Adora came in close to apologize, she’d kiss her quickly on the cheek, then begin tickling her on that one place behind her thigh. Sure, they were a chaotic bunch. But it worked. It really, really worked. Catra could not wait to be back in that ship with them, although she’d never anticipated herself saying so.   
Now, however, she was having lunch with Nayaka, of all people. The councilwoman had been keeping a close eye on her since Adora and Glimmer’s trial. The redhead strongly disagreed with Catra’s haircut, but the matter was quite obviously out of her hands. Well, unless she expected Catra to wear a wig to the gala. Ugh, that would be sweaty.   
“Darling child, I hate to sound doubtful of you, however, I need to make sure I know where your loyalties lie before the gala.” She broke their uncomfortably silent meal and turned towards Catra. “I know not of your life before you came home, but you need to know of the opportunities and responsibilities that are to come for you after we introduce you to Purrsian society.”   
Catra only half-paid attention. In all honesty, the food here was really good. She wouldn’t be surprised if she went into withdrawal once she left the planet.   
“Of course, we have no plans to reinstate the monarchy, seeing as how that went last time. Still, as a descendant of royal blood, you will be highly honored by our people. The aristocracy will eat you right up, dear. Moreso even than them, though, are the common folk. We have not had the best relations with them in the past. This is where you come in. You represent an era past, as well as a fairy-tale success story. Having been ripped from your home, you rose through the ranks of the Horde until you were able to return to us. The less fortunate will relate to your tenacity, and trust you much more than they trust us.” Finished with her proposition, Nayaka leaned back and sipped a dark red liquid from the cup in front of her. All Catra had to drink since she got there was water, so she wasn’t sure if she even wanted to know what the councilwoman was drinking.   
“You mean you want me to be, like, a public representative?”  
Nayaka smiled tactfully, “In a way… you may liaise with the public, as we might take interest in the needs and desires, however your priority must be to serve the council. Do you understand my meaning?”  
To simplify, she was to be a figurehead and a snitch. She understood Nayaka’s meaning just fine, but that did not mean she agreed with it. Still, she played it cool. Even before she was officially initiated into Purrsian society, she had been gradually gaining more and more freedom within the capitol. Now, she did not need to be followed when she went to the restroom, could lunch with whoever, whenever she pleased, and got a choice of her clothes, rather than having a new outfit shoved on her each day. She was still locked in her room each night, had to eat dinner with the council, and spent ten hours a day in lessons, though. Well, at least Nayaka believed her to be in lessons. Really, she spent most of her time with Lukkae planning the escape. When their minds grew tired after hours of revolution-planning, Lukkae would pull up Purrsian films on the library’s screen. Inadvertently, Catra was learning a lot about her home planet.   
It might have been occupied by a crooked council, but it was a pretty cool place. Whether she liked it or not, she was gonna miss it. Spacing out through the rest of her luncheon with Nayaka, Catra imagined a future where she and Adora could visit Purrsia from time to time. Based on what she’d learned about the atmosphere, Adora would need the assistance of technology to stay sober throughout the duration of their stay. Although, it would be hilarious to get Adora inebriated. They could stay with Lukkae and her son, and meet whatever friends Bow was bound to have made while his besties were locked up in the capitol. It would be nice to experience Purrsia without the imminent threat of her girlfriend’s death and torture looming over her shoulder.   
She had two more days to prepare for the gala. Their first priority was to get the hell out of this place, and only once they reached safety would they scrounge up enough rebels to confront the council. Lukkae was prepared to find her former comrades, and had a plan to turn the public’s favor in their direction. After all, most people didn’t necessarily support the government, but were afraid enough to follow its rules. So long as they could show the government for the weak, impish farce that it was, people would become willing to rebel.   
Lukkae had been spreading unease amongst the prison guards for the past week. Pointing out poor hours, low wages, the lack of respect they received from the council. Essentially, the typical elements of a class revolution. This flame will have spread far enough by the gala, they hoped, to combust in entirety the upper class. Once they turned the tide within the capitol, the change would ripple throughout the rest of the planet.  
The next item on Catra’s schedule was something she’d been dreading since she first learned that there would be a party: dance lessons.   
Sure, she’d danced with Adora at Princess Prom, but that was different. That was fueled by rivalry and poorly hidden homosexual attraction. In fact, she didn’t necessarily dislike dancing. No, she more so disliked the notion of dancing with a bunch of stuck-up rich people who wanted her girlfriend dead. Also, she was a little worried about embarrassing herself. Just a little.   
“Put your left foot behind your right, bring your left arm above your head, and spin with your right hand out.”   
Catra frustratedly attempted to follow these instructions. Technically, she was getting all of the moves right, but her instructor argued that she was not graceful enough.   
Pft, not graceful enough. Growing up as the only Purrsian on Etheria, she was almost always the most agile person in the room. Here, she felt like a clutz. She’d tripped over a tear in the rugs that covered the capitol’s floors the other day just as a group of kids walked past. They’d all giggled at her, meanwhile the two adult Purrsians that guided them tried unsuccessfully to keep the children composed. Catra had righted herself and sent a glare at the kids.   
“Relax your muscles, and move as though your limbs are made of wind,” he told her. “Do you want to impress the aristocracy, or land them in the hospital?”  
In her head, she was thinking that she wouldn’t really mind the second option. The lesson continued on for the next several hours, until she felt tired enough to actually have a full night’s worth of sleep. By the end of it, her leg muscles ached, and she would’ve given up her left arm for a long, cold sip of water.   
She walked out of the dance studio to find Lukkae lounging outside, waiting for her.   
“How was your lesson?” She asked.   
Catra wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Fine. We going to dinner?”   
Lukkae hesitated, “No dinner tonight,” she looked over her shoulder before continuing. “There are rumours spreading through the capitol of a rebel group residing in the city... the council is not pleased. Nayaka has increased security exponentially. She fears it will be her head on a pike if an uprising occurs.”   
“Is she right?”  
Lukkae glances around fearfully once more. “Yes,” she giggles quietly, before making herself shut up.   
“So, can we not eat, like at all, or?” Catra trailed off as her stomach growled.  
“Come with me,” Lukkae began leading the way, “I think we can figure something out.”   
They wound through the mountain, going deeper, Catra judged, by the decline in the path. The closer they got to their destination, the narrower the hallways grew, until Lukkae and Catra had to walk single-file. Someone like Scorpia, with her claws and broad shoulders, would be hard pressed to get down that hallway in a hurry. Additionally, the rugs they walked on became more and more thin as they went along. Eventually, they walked on the bare stone floor. It chilled Catra’s feet, not that she minded. It was hard for her to focus too much on anything other than food in that moment. Dance classes had really whooped her ass.  
Finally, they approached an entryway that emanated warmth. Inside was a grand kitchen, stocked as far as the eye could see. Purrsians wearing aprons scurried all over the place, making enough food to feed everyone who worked and lived within the capitol. It was far superior to the Fright Zone’s kitchen, which consisted of freezers with ration bars stacked inside and one outdated stove.   
As Lukkae walked in, a short woman about her same age launched herself at the woman and planted a loud peck on her cheek. “Lukkae! Where have you been, my darling, why do you never visit me anymore?”  
“I have been quite occupied with this one,” Lukkae gestured to Catra, “Catra, meet Erastis. Erastis, meet Catra.”   
Erastis squeaked, dark hair standing on end. “You bring me the lost princess?” She excitedly examined Catra from head to toe, apparently knowing nothing of personal space.   
“Hey,” Catra said awkwardly.   
“Erastis, we come in hopes that you would feed us,” Lukkae explained, “As you know, Nayaka has canceled dinner, and all of the council have retreated to their rooms.” She rolled her eyes, as if she were talking about an upset teenager and not a government official.   
“We did wonder why they insisted upon going to sleep without a meal. What do you know of it?”  
Lukkae lowered her voice, “They fear a revolution may be oncoming. I suppose Nayaka is too worried her food may be poisoned to eat.”   
This drew a laugh out of Erastis, boisterous and high pitched. It was a laugh that fit her personality well. Catra appreciated seeing an unmuffled smile in such a serious time and place.   
“Well, I can assure you we will not poison you, my dear, nor our friend here. Come, sit, I will bring out food and eat with you.” She guided them to what must’ve been the cooks’ break room, then left to get food.   
“She’s awfully affectionate with you,” Catra pointed out.   
A blush spread over Lukkae’s tan cheeks, “Hush, child.”   
Catra had yet to see much other affection being traded in this place until today. Whether it was a Purrsian thing or just the capitol being a bum, she could not tell. What she could tell was that Lukkae was totally crushing over this Erastis girl. And it seemed that Erastis reciprocated. A devious plan began to form in her mind as Erastis returned with a huge platter full of food.   
Soup, bread, smoked meats, roasted veggies, salted nuts, and even some sliced fruit and candies. Catra’s mouth filled with saliva at the sight of it. She eagerly dove in, nearly forgetting that she had assigned herself a mission.   
Look, she wasn’t normally the match-making type, but she could very well read a room. Besides, after all Lukkae had done for her, she felt the need to do something in return. If there was one thing Catra hated, it was to be indebted to a person. Nope, she would pay her dues in the form of romance. She’d managed to get with the hottest girl on Etheria, no, in the universe, so she figured she could get two Purrsians together just fine.   
“When did you guys meet?” she asked innocently, sipping at the brothy soup she’d been given.   
“Oh, let me tell the story,” Erastis avidly begged, not waiting for Lukkae’s permission before continuing. “About a year ago, I was new to the capitol. I had lost my previous job at a restaurant when the owner was thrown in jail for using magic to transport ingredients from the north side of the planet. Anyways, I was delivering a plate of hors d’oeuvres to a council meeting, when I tripped on the loose end of a rug and they went flying all over the place. It was only my third day and I was so panicked that I could have broken down crying right there. But Lukkae was on her way to deliver the council’s dinner requests, and found me. She helped me get it all cleaned up, then helped me find my way back to the kitchen to get fresh food.” She smiled admiringly at her friend, “I have been latched onto her since then.”   
Lukkae snorted, “We did not even get the hors d’oeuvres there before the meeting. Actually, I ended up being late to helping Nayaka select an outfit for an upcoming banquet. She almost yelled my ears off that night.”  
“Worth it,” Erastis said, grabbing the taller woman’s hands.   
Catra could have died, it was so ridiculously cute seeing the way the two interacted. By the time Catra had moved onto dessert, they were too lost in conversation to notice her silence. Shoving some leftovers into her pants pockets, she stood up.  
“I’m gonna turn in, but you guys should keep hanging out.”  
Lukkae looked at her concernedly, “Do you not need guidance through the passageways?”  
“Eh, I’ll figure it out.” When she had one foot out the door, she turned back around with a smirk. “This looks like a really good make-out spot. Do what you will with that information!”   
Catra hadn’t even made it out of the kitchen before she heard Erastis’s surprised noises as Lukkae undoubtedly plopped one on her. She figured the potential threat of death if their plan failed was enough to give the woman the courage she needed.   
Now, onto the next task. Despite what she’d told Lukkae, and the exhaustion soaking her muscles, Catra was not going to bed. The day before, she had found a copy of the capitol’s layout on Lukkae’s tablet when she fell asleep in the library. Catra had hurried to commit it to memory, focusing especially on the ways to access the prison. It was located underground, on the second to last level of the building nestled in the mountain. From the kitchens, she was two floors up from Adora.  
It took her a while to get to the right floor. She passed first through a level of storage, then a level of machinery, which she assumed were for the utilities in all other levels of the capitol. Finally, she reached the entrance to the prison. It was sealed off with a thick metal door, accompanied by two guards with long batons, which were likely tasers. On their belts were a variety of other weapons, including but not limited to knives, grenades, and some clear spray. Catra knew better than to try and get past them. She’d fought plenty of unbalanced fights before, and didn’t doubt that she could knock both guards out in less than a minute. That, however, did not help her get inside, nor did it prevent backup from descending on her. She needed to maintain the appearance of the clueless princess until she had the leverage to escape.   
“Hey, kiddos,” she said, strolling up, “Busy night?”  
The guards looked at her with confusion. Obviously, they didn’t get many visitors around these parts.   
“We’ve not met yet, but I’m Catra. You know, the lost princess?” Catra smiled serenely as their faces lit up. She was a popular character, it seemed. “Actually, I was wondering if you guys could help me out. I’m learning about Purrsian history, and I’m just now brushing up on the justice system. The thing is,” she faked shyness, tittering a little as if to let nerves out, “I’m having a really hard time imagining what the prisons look like. Do you think I could just take a quick peep around?”  
“Uh-uh, ma’am, we cannot abandon our posts,” the taller of the two said.  
The other responded before Catra even needed to, “Oh, it is just the princess. Surely we can allow her a few minutes inside,” he gave his coworker a look that said don’t embarrass me in front of the princess.   
She sighed, “Okay. But only for a few minutes. Knock three times when you would like us to let you out.”   
Catra placed her hands on the guards shoulders, “Thanks, guys!” She gave them a squeeze, then stood back to let them open the door. The younger guard looked like he might faint at her touching him, and the older sported a dark blush. Damn, was this whole planet touch starved? If all it took was a couple well-placed pats to get her way, it should be a piece of cake busting Adora out of here.   
All of the guards gave her funny looks, but didn’t question what she was doing here. Catra was very rapidly coming to understand why Nayaka wanted to use her as a pawn. These people had an exceptional amount of trust in their lost princess. From what Lukkae had told her, anyone under the age of twenty had been raised hearing the folk tale of the lost princess. She was like a fictional character to them, and thus presented no feasible harm.   
Catra wandered deeper and deeper into the prison until she found a cell that was guarded particularly heavily - two guards on each side of it. She prepared herself to charm more people.   
“Ma’am,” one of the guards, a gangly girl who was obviously still a teenager, said, “You must not approach this cell. It contains dangerous prisoners.”   
“They’re locked up, aren’t they? Besides, I know of these prisoners. They’ll be executed during my exhibition gala.”  
“If you insist…” she stepped back, allowing Catra to come in front of the cell.  
Adora was curled up on the floor, sleeping fitfully. No blanket, no fresh water, and no privacy. Glimmer slept with her face to the back wall and her hands over her head. It made Catra want to say to hell with it and kill every guard on the way back to get the hell out of here. Still, she knew it was no one-man job, and these two would be of no service for the time being.   
Catra took a deep breath. Then, she tapped on the barrier wall of the cell.


	9. Chapter Nine

So this is what heaven looks like, Adora thought as she stirred to Catra’s face hovering inches from her own. Then, the feeling returned to her body. Cold air, hard ground, empty belly. She wasn’t dead, apparently. That either meant that Catra was really here, or that she had finally begun hallucinating from the starvation. She and Glimmer hadn’t been fed since the death sentence was handed down. The guards said it was a waste of resources to feed a dead man. Well, dead woman. Whatever.   
“Your hair,” Adora croaked. Ah, yes, the first thing she’d said to her girlfriend in two weeks was a remark on her haircut. Although, it did look pretty damn sexy.   
“Yeah,” Catra smiled warmly, before cutting a sharp glance at the guards to either side of her. “I know that you two are being… executed… soon and I thought I would… come learn about the Purrsian prison system. So.”   
She was blinking erratically, which Adora was sure meant something. If she could bring herself to stop thinking about how gorgeous the cat girl was, she might actually be able to decode the message.   
“I guess in death we’ll at least be getting out of here,” Adora said completely conspicuously. It was the best she could do in her tired state. “You must be feeling… excited, for the gala?”  
“I’m okay. Missing my friends.”  
Adora’s heart ached. She wanted nothing more right now than to reach out and cup Catra’s cheek in her hand, much like the other had done a year ago when Adora faced death to take down Horde Prime. Somehow, she preferred that fight to this one. It felt weird to sit here uselessly. At least then, she could actively help herself and her friends. She pressed her palm flat against the barrier, hoping she could convey everything she couldn’t say in that gesture.   
Her head was clearing up, and Catra was still blinking. She caught the tail end of the morse code.   
Gala. Escape.   
Thank Angella that Catra had a plan, because she and Glimmer came up dry every time they tried to figure something out.   
“Guards,” Catra said, gaining their attention, “I brought something for these prisoners.”  
The guard sighed in exasperation. “We cannot allow you to give any outside items to the prisoners, ma’am.”  
“Not even just this one time? I mean, they’re gonna die soon, shouldn’t they get the chance to have a little food before then?”  
Annoyed, but not caring enough to argue further, the guard pressed her thumb to the wall, and a hole opened up at the bottom of the barrier, big enough to slip food through. Catra pulled the food, wrapped in cloth napkins, from her pockets, and shoved it through the hole. Adora’s heart thumped erratically in her chest. She reached for the food, wanting to swallow it whole but not wanting Catra to worry too much about their situation. She could see the eyebags under her lover’s eyes, and knew that this ordeal had been just as stressful on her as it had been on Adora. When they got out of here, Adora decided, they would take the ship back to Etheria and take a week or two off. They would stay in the castle at Bright Moon, and spend their days exploring the Whispering Woods, which had only become more enchanted since they took down the Horde. They would eat dinner with the princesses who remained on-planet, making jokes and telling stories. Then, at night, they would bathe in the waterfall tub that came with her room in the castle. After which, they’d fall asleep with no alarm set for the morning.  
She could hold out, if the promise of such paradise lay ahead.   
Adora set aside half the food for Glimmer, then began tucking in. Catra had brought her a wide variety of things. Really, at that point in time, it wouldn’t have mattered what she thought, because Adora was quite literally starving. However, she did still have enough sense in her to appreciate the thought.  
“Good, huh?” Catra asked. “Try the chocolate cake.”   
Confused, yet curious, Adora picked it up and took a bite. Her eyes flew open when her teeth collided with something metal. Staying quiet so as to not alert the guards, she used her facial expression to ask Catra what the hell was going on. Catra simply tugged at her own ear, where Adora noticed a metal ring. Just like the one piercing her own ear. That’s when it clicked in her head. Catra had snuck her a knife. She wanted Adora and Glimmer to cut the rings out of their ears.   
Great. Just when she thought she was done with self-mutilation for the sake of survival, she had to cut her own ear open. Don’t try this hero shit at home, kids. It’s more painful than it looks.   
Gritting her teeth, Adora nodded curtly at the brunette. Just then, the guards turned to Catra, having determined her time was up with their prisoners. Adora gave her girlfriend one more weak smile, again pressing her hand to the barrier. Briefly, Catra returned the motion. Then she was ushered away, and Adora was left craving more.


	10. Chapter Ten

The day was upon them. Bow, Senshi, Kharim, and their band of rebels huddled in a safehouse less than a mile from the capitol that morning, going over the plans one last time.   
Kharim leaned over a map of the capitol. “The gala begins at sundown. We will be outside the capitol an hour before that. Senshi and Bow will be dressed to attend, using the tickets we swiped off people at the bar. The rest of us will sneak in dressed as waitstaff. Be prepared to serve a couple drinks, and do not dare to blow our cover. When they begin the public execution, we will act. Bow and Senshi will grab the prisoners and run - this is their first priority, not saving your asses. Myself, Rutoria, and Kola will use the resulting panic to sneak our way into the library to steal the documents proving that magic is not dangerous, but was used as an excuse to suppress the people. All other rebels are expected to preserve the chaos long enough for everyone to get out with the prisoners and the documents. Assuming we make it out alive, we regroup out here, then move fast and far before the capitol has regained their wits. Understood?”  
Everyone nodded. It was a simple plan, but oftentimes those were the most effective. They had armed themselves to the best of their abilities. Unlike Bow, most of the rebels were a little too willing to use lethal force. However, Senshi had made it very clear, as leader of the group, that she expected everyone to take no lives that night. Bow and everyone else there knew that if Kharim got his hands on councilwoman Nayaka, he was going to take her head home with him. He was too blinded by unresolved grief to care about the consequences. Matter of fact, he wasn’t the only one who felt that way. If they weren’t able to get in and out quickly, there could very well be a bloodbath.   
As a pacifistic ambassador, Bow didn’t like the idea of killing to retrieve his loved ones. At the same time, he understood. If anyone laid a hand on Glimmer, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to keep his cool. His quiver mostly contained trick arrows that served purposes other than killing, but he had a couple sharp ends in there.   
That night, himself and Senshi waited in line to enter the event. His face might have displayed composure, but his palms sweat and his heart pounded anxiously. He was, essentially, waltzing into the belly of the beast unarmed. Obviously, he couldn’t waltz in with a bow strapped across his back, so one of the rebels disguised as a caterer was sneaking it in on a food cart. Furthermore, there was no room for error tonight. Bow needed to get this right, otherwise something really bad might happen to Glimmer and Adora.   
And Catra, wherever the hell she was.   
An hour later, they managed to get through the tall double doors leading into the ballroom. What they were greeted with was a scene of arrogant luxury. Gauzy, colorful fabrics draped the walls, covering the stone the room had been carved from. Spread out across the floor was a menagerie of thick rugs, cushioning the barefoot Purrsians as they walked. Everywhere Bow looked, there was food, drinks, and entertainment. The Purrsian upper class were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Decked out in patterned fabrics, and weighed down by copious amounts of jewelry. The most heavily bejewelled of them were surrounded by others listening intently to them and laughing at their jokes. An entourage, you might call it, or just a sad group of individuals.   
Bow had been on Purrsia for long enough to see the disparity of wealth for what it was. The people who actively supported the government gained riches. Those who tolerated it, like the waitstaff and the bartender from a few nights ago, got along just fine. Now, if you disagreed with the government, and managed not to be arrested or executed? You were likely to just scrape by, like the people of the rebel camps.   
It wasn’t too hard to distinguish the government officials from their guests. While most others relaxed, dancing loosely and drinking freely, the council people were stiffly mingling, wearing far less jewelry than those around them. Nayaka, whom Bow recognized from the club, was parading a saccharine smile around the room. She was confident, that much was obvious. Yet, she kept glancing over her shoulder, as if expecting someone to come up behind her with a knife at any moment. She had not acted that way at the club the other night, and this place definitely had more security than they had there.   
“Nayaka knows that something’s gonna happen tonight,” Bow whispered to Senshi, but she was staring elsewhere.   
“My sister,” she says, breathlessly, “She is here.”  
Bow looks around, “She’s a guest? But, how?”  
“No. She is a member of the council.”  
Just like that, Bow watched his new friend’s heart shatter into a million pieces. Following her line of sight, he spotted a girl who looked just like Senshi, except that her hair was cut into a bob, and she lacked the compassion held in her sister’s eyes. Turoki was laughing with some burly man wearing a gold-embroidered vest.   
The blonde’s upper lip quivered. “I will kill her,” she vowed, “For this betrayal, I will send her home to our father in a box.”   
“Uh, let’s not do that,” Bow suggested.  
Before he could stop her, Senshi was marching right up to her sister, a look that could make Horde Prime himself drop dead on her face. Bow rushed after her, but there was no stopping her.   
“Sister,” she greeted, “Long time, no see.”  
Turoki turned to look at her, her look of shock quickly morphing into cool indifference. Her blue eyes glinted as she stared her sister down, “Senshi, it is nice to see you. Mr. Henning, this is my twin sister.”   
He gave Turoki a slap on the back, “Why, you never told us you had a sister! And you look so similar.”   
She smiled, “Yes, she and I are twins. Whereas I took towards politics, Senshi here is quite the artist. Isn’t that right, sister?” Turoki looked directly into her twin’s eyes as she addressed her.   
“Yes,” Senshi said blissfully.   
Bow, who was hanging behind a podium to watch them, struggled to comprehend what was going on. One minute Senshi was ready to commit sororicide, and now she was calmly conversing with the very sort they were here to take down? Something was clearly amiss.   
He didn’t have time to put two and two together, however, because Turoki walked swiftly from the ballroom, leaving Senshi standing there aimlessly.   
“Senshi,” he yelped, coming to her side, “Are you okay?!”  
She closed her eyes for a very long time, and when she opened them, they were stark white for a moment. Then, she shook her head vigorously, and they returned to normal. “That heathen!”   
“What happened? What did she do?”  
Senshi growled, “The traitor hypnotized me. It is her magical inclination. While she’s holding eye contact with you, she can subdue you, even get you to agree with what she says. She promised when we were kids to never use it on me, however I suppose promises go out the window when you are an ass licking, treacherous b -”  
“I’m so sorry about Turoki, you deserve better,” Bow shushed her, “But reacting to it right this second could get us killed. We need to play it cool until they bring Glimmer and Adora out.”   
“I mourned for her. For years, I wept over her untimely demise, all the while convincing myself that I could still save her. I see now that it is too late. She must die,” tears fell from her eyes as she glared at the floor.   
There was nothing Bow could say to absolve the hurt Senshi was feeling in those moments. So, he grabbed a drink for her from a passing-by tray. Tipping her head back, she drained it, then dropped the cup to the floor. Thankfully, the rugs prevented it from shattering, and the opalescent glass rolled away from them. Bow patted Senshi on the back, then they got down to business.   
Bow’s arrows and bow were shoved into a cart amongst stacks of cups and dishes. Within the same cart, the rebels had also stowed a couple rings and a tin can of darts.   
“Magical inhibitors,” Bow muttered, passing one to Senshi to shove in her pocket, “and darts?”  
Senshi picked one up and examined it, “They are tipped with some gooey stuff. I guess it is to make people pass out.”  
They wandered around a little more, briefly mingling with some aristocrats. No one questioned what they were doing here, although one or two times Bow and Senshi were handed trash by aristocrats to throw away, or asked for another martini. However demeaning it was, they smiled and graciously explained that they were not waitstaff, but guests.   
“Oh, but where is all your jewelry?” One woman, who was leaning on another for support, asked.   
“Left it at home, I guess,” Bow explained to riotous laughter. “It was nice talking to you guys, but we should keep making our way around.”   
“You must settle down, find a seat,” a man with dreadlocks insisted, “the show is about to start.” He gestured at the elevated stage at the back of the room.  
Nayaka walked serenely onto the platform, where a microphone waited for her. “Beloved citizens, we could not be more honored by your presence tonight. Tonight, we celebrate the magnificent conclusion to a mystery that has baffled our society for decades. I have someone very special to introduce to you, and you may already have heard who it is…”  
She motioned at someone hidden from sight. Out walked Catra, wrapped in extravagant fabrics and jingling with each step from the amount of metal clipped to her body and outfit. Bow liked the outfit, but Catra looked very clearly uncomfortable in it. As she drew nearer to the microphone, she fidgeted nervously.   
“People of Purrsia,” Nayaka swept her hand grandly towards Catra, “I present to you, our lost princess.”  
The crowd exploded. People were clapping, yelling, thrusting their cups in the air for the sake of the princess whose family they’d slaughtered. It all seemed rather hypocritical. Catra was then pushed up to the microphone, reluctantly.   
“Uhm… I didn’t really know anything of my heritage before I came to Purrsia. So, I guess I’ve learned a lot since I got here,” she trailed off. The crowd was filled with murmurs about her appearance, her accent, with many in approval. Still, as Bow struggled to the front, he heard some cruel remarks. It boggled him how people can judge so quickly someone they know so little about.   
As he burst through the front to touch the stage, Catra locked eyes with him. She went through several emotions in a fraction of a second, eventually settling on relief. Bow gave her a reassuring nod, one that said they would get through this.   
“One thing I know is that the course of Purrsian history is changing before our eyes. Every choice you make is weighted. If the right people don’t make the right choices, blood will be shed. I’ve known war. It isn’t something I would wish on anyone, especially not the planet I come from. It is time for Purrsians to figure out what it is they would fight for. Is it power, money? Or is it freedom, love, individuality? I hope that all of you know, and are prepared to risk everything for it. If not, then it’s time that you reassess what is truly important.”   
There was a mixture of reactions to Catra’s speech. At first, there was a moment of quiet. Nayaka was staring at her intensely, evidently trying to figure out if the speech was in favor of or against the council. Most seemed confused at best. Then, one person began clapping, and from there, everyone else started up. By the time the applause died down, Nayaka had guided Catra off the stage, and was keeping a tight grip around her shoulders off to its left side. Next, Turoki strutted up the platform to speak.  
“It is to my great pleasure that I bring the entertainment for this memorable night. As the people of this planet well know, the council has fought long and hard to protect Purrsia from the threat of magic. This, of course, has only been made possible by your support. We invite you to enjoy with us today the fruits of our labors,” as she concluded, four guards walked out, each carrying a captured girl between them.


	11. Chapter Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHAPTER WARNING: Violence, torture, etc. If you're sensitive to depictions of violence, please stop reading at "her long hair trailing behind her" and Ctrl+f to "Catra was beginning to sprint"

Nayaka’s nails were digging painfully into her shoulder, but Catra held still. She tried to not make it too obvious when her breath accelerated and her hands began shaking at Adora’s entrance. Adora’s hands were bound behind her back, and she was basically being dragged between the two guards. Her blonde hair was almost matted together. Not to mention the bruises and cuts visible on her body that hadn’t been there the last time Catra had seen her. There was also the matter of her ear. Most wouldn’t think to pay attention to the girl’s ears, but if you were to look closely, you would see that her earlobe had been sliced open. The ring that once pierced it was nowhere to be seen.   
Catra began to sweat profusely.   
Turoki held a long, taser device in each of her hands. “Earlier this week, we collected requests of yours regarding how you would like to see a prisoner punished. Today, before executing these criminals, we will fulfill three of your requests.”  
Bow and Catra looked at one another frantically, both knowing that they couldn’t yet move. Too many guards stood around, and too many eyes were directed in their directions. They would need a distraction.   
“The first request is a good, old fashioned tasing,” the crowd went wild at Turoki’s words.   
If Catra hadn’t been so terrified, she might have noticed the woman next to Bow slinking off, her long hair trailing behind her.   
“Prisoners #3047 and #3048, convicted of criminal use of magic,” the councilwoman grinned, “today, your answer for your transgressions.”   
Turoki thrust the tasers into Adora and Glimmer’s chests. Catra felt every second of it. She screamed each pained yell alongside Adora. In the front row, Bow looked ready to murder, and she felt much the same. Their cries, however, were lost amongst the delighted sounds of the crowd.  
Nayaka released Catra as the girl wiggled uncomfortably. “Sh, child, and enjoy the show.” She patted Catra’s hair condescendingly.   
“And now, for the second request: humiliation.”  
What? Catra glanced to Bow for answers, but he had the same look of puzzlement on his face. That was, until Turoki took a knife from her pocket, and began to cut Adora’s shirt from her body. At this point, Catra had had enough. Distraction be damned, she was not allowing Adora to be subjected to any more of this. Physical pain, they’d handled on a daily basis growing up. However, she was not letting Adora be forced to strip in front of a room of strangers.   
Catra was beginning to sprint up to the stage when shouting began from the balcony of the ballroom. Everyone halted, including Turoki.   
A woman who looked shockingly similar to the blonde councilwoman stood on the railing of the balcony. “Turoki, you have strayed far from when I knew you. You were raised to be kind, compassionate, peaceful. Now, you are only a pawn, and a tyrant. Sister, I love you, but it is your time to go.”   
While everyone’s attention was on her, Bow and Catra had snuck their way onto the stage. Bow swung his bow over Turoki’s head, knocking her out cold. Her limp body fell off the stage, and the aristocrats scampered back to avoid being hit by her.   
They had to act fast. Catra swiped her claws across the faces of Adora’s guards, while Bow smacked Glimmer’s over the head. They pulled the magnetic keys from the guard’s belts and used them to free the girls’ hands.   
“I know the way out, follow me,” Catra said as she yanked her girlfriend up.   
“Wait, I’ve got people here helping me,” Bow said as he wrapped Glimmer’s arm around his neck. “We’ve gotta make sure that Senshi gets out.”   
“Well, I have to make sure that Lukkae gets out okay,” Catra protested.   
“Can the both of you just shut up and get us out of here?”  
Taking Glimmer’s slurred advice to heart, they split up, agreeing to find each other once they were free from the captiol.  
Catra moved as quickly as she could with a malnourished jock clinging to her. Adora was weak, loopy, and bleeding where Turoki’s knife had caught her skin.   
She attacked the blonde with a barrage of questions, “Can you stand? Can you transform? Do you need water?”   
Adora giggled, “Hm. Kitty!” She grabbed Catra’s ear in her hand.   
Had her girlfriend lost her mind? Oh sweet Angella, was she gonna be like this forever? Doing everything within her power not to panic, Catra hurried down to the kitchen where Lukkae was waiting. She passed only a handful of guards along the way, since most were being used to defend the ballroom. So far, she’d only had to slam one person’s head into the stone wall, which she perceived as an altogether win. All the others had been affected by Lukkae’s genius spread of dissent. They let her pass without so much as a glance.   
She finally reached the kitchens, Adora being dragged at her side. The cooks were too busy replenishing the food supply for the gala they thought was still going on, and paid her no mind. Catra burst into the break room. There waited Lukkae and Erastis, who had been roped into the plan after they confessed their feelings for one another.   
“Oh, what has happened to this poor baby!” Erastis exclaimed upon seeing Adora. She tried to tug her out of Catra’s hands, but she refused to let go. “Please, let me help.”  
“Nooooooo,” Adora pressed her face to the brunette’s side, “I love this kitty, and I’m staying with her.”   
“She’s a little… out of it,” Catra explained.   
Lukkae came to the other side of Adora to help lift her up, “She has been inhaling inebriabitur, it has incapacitating effects on non-Purrsians. Come, child, we must not waste time.”  
They sat Adora down at the table, and got themselves ready to leave. After they had all the necessary weaponry, tools, and other supplies tucked into their pockets or slung in bags over their shoulders, Lukkae gave Catra a dreadful look.   
“It is time. We need to cut the inhibitors out of our ears, and we can go.”  
With that, the three of them took turns painfully slitting their ears open to remove the inhibitors, which doubled as trackers, out of themselves. It was one of the most demoralizing parts of this entire experience, in Catra’s opinion. Erastis cried as hers was cut out, because her ear had twitched involuntarily, extending the cut.   
Not talking about the pain they were in, the girls followed Lukkae through a winding set of narrow tunnels to the very bottom of the mountain. There wasn’t enough space for Adora to lean on Catra, so instead, Catra slung her girlfriend over her back. She was worried for a million different reasons, but in particular, she worried about two things. One, Adora had lost enough weight that Catra, who was several inches shorter and usually nowhere near as buff, could carry her with ease. Two, she was passed out cold on Catra’s shoulder.   
“Is she gonna be okay?” Catra worriedly asked.   
“Your love will be fine, my child,” Erastis said soothingly, “She is thoroughly intoxicated, but there are no known harmful effects of inebriabitur.”   
Without a proper air filter for Adora, they had tied a cloth napkin around her lower face, hoping it would keep her from getting even more high. Even then, it would take a bit of time for her system to expel the intoxicant.   
Finally, they came to an exit, after knocking out a few guards on their way. Catra had not been outside in weeks, and the scent of fresh air was enough to make her eyes water. They began running, and didn’t stop until the guards cheering after them were a speck in the distance.   
****  
If it weren’t for how distracting these cool, shiny glasses were, Glimmer would totally be kicking ass right now. Totally. Instead, she was hanging onto Bow with one arm, and holding her opalescent cup up to the light with the other. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why people were shouting so loudly, or why Bow kept dragging her around. Like, c’mon, everybody, stop and enjoy the sparkly cups! She giggled at herself.   
“Bow, can we slow down just, for, like, a little bit? Like, just a little bit?” She whispered as loudly as she could manage. “I really need to pee.”   
He ignored her, and kept trudging along. Ugh, rude! Although, now that her attention had shifted from the cup to him, she was having a really hard time looking away. Bow had a nice face, and Glimmer decided that she wanted to touch it so badly she might explode just thinking about it. With a little more force than was necessary, she pushed her hand into his face, feeling its soft skin, the tiny amount of stubble poking at his upper lip, the strength of his brow bone.   
“Glimmer, can you stop? I’m trying to save our lives here,” he said.   
Silly boys. “Whaddyou mean? The war’s over bud, we’re all good!”  
“Yeah, but now we’re trying to escape certain death by an oppressive government, remember?”  
Ohhh yeah. That. All of the sudden, Glimmer began sobbing, and she didn’t really know why. Well, she knew why. She’d just been hit with the full force of how much she loved Bow. I mean, he was pretty, he was her best friend, and he was saving her life! What’s not to love? Anyways, she found it a bit overwhelming, but it certainly wasn’t a reason to cry. She thought for the longest that you should only cry about sad things. Turns out, people can cry for all kinds of reasons. Even happy ones!  
What were they doing again?  
Oh, yeah. Fleeing.   
“Will she cry the whole time?” some blonde lady that Glimmer didn’t know asked, running alongside them.   
“I could get her out of her a whole lot faster,” Bow told her, panting, “if you would help.”  
The long haired lady replied, “When I tried to touch her earlier, she tickled me!”  
Glimmer laughed, barely remembering having done that. “Hey, you’re not Adora, but you’re blonde. What’s up with that?” She grabbed the lady’s hair, halting it’s rhythmic swing. Then Glimmer decided she missed its swinging, and let it go. Then she started thinking about how you don’t always know you’ll miss something until it’s gone. Then she looked up at Bow again.  
“Hey, just so you know, I love you. Like, a lot. Like, a lot a lot. And not just as best friends, even though we’re like, half the Best Friends Squad. I really think we should get married or something,” she informed him.   
A funny look came over his face, like he’d just tasted something kinda funny, but he also liked it. “I love you, too. Let’s talk about it more when you know what you’re saying. Senshi is gonna help me carry you, now.”  
Another hand wrapped around her. Glimmer was halfway into arguing that she did too know what she was saying, but stopped because she got a song stuck in her head. Beginning to sing it loudly, she nodded her head to the beat and wondered why her feet weren’t touching the ground.   
They moved and moved and moved and moved until they reached some black haired dude and his friends. Glimmer couldn’t exactly bring herself to care. She was sobering up quickly, apparently because of the piece of metal they’d shoved into her nose, and she didn’t like that.   
“Before any of you judge her, she’s not usually like this, she’s really delirious right now,” Bow explained to the group.   
“Aww, you’re defending me,” Glimmer kissed him sloppily on the cheek, then gasped. “Do you think I’m embarrassing?!”  
“Okay, we need to move,” the black haired guy said, “But where is your other friend? And Turoki?”  
Bow adjusted Glimmer’s hold on him as he answered. “Our friend Catra is bringing Adora out, and Turoki…”   
Senshi glared at him. “Turoki is dead.”   
“That Turoki lady, is sooo mean, she tried to make me get naked and I was like no, lady, it’s way too drafty in here for that, and -”   
“Now is not the time to explain,” the blonde lady cut her off. Hey, she looked a lot like the blonde lady that had tased Glimmer! Except they had kinda different hair. “We are meeting Bow’s friends soon. Kharim, take lead. I will guard the back. Bow and his intoxicated friend should be in the center.”   
So, they carried on, keeping an eye out for anyone that might be following them. Glimmer was gradually gaining an understanding of what was going on. At the same time, she was becoming mortified by her behavior. Had she told Bow they should get married? Holy Angella. Her dad had told her stories about drinking and being hungover, but she’d thought he was exaggerating. Surely alcohol was not as strong as the air on Purrsia, otherwise she had no idea why people ever got drunk. She was having a hard time determining whether her headache was from the starvation, dehydration, exhaustion, and torture, or if it was an aftereffect of her fun little trip.   
They reached the safe house, and were there for an hour before Catra, Adora, and two older women arrived. Glimmer sat up from where she’d been stretching out flat on the floor, letting the come-down wash over her in waves. Two Purrsian rebels she didn’t know the names of opened the door, weapons at the ready, relaxing when Catra protested that she was a friend of Bow’s. The four women walked into the house, Catra entering first with Adora asleep on her back.   
“Is she okay?” Glimmer asked hoarsely.   
The tired girl nodded, laying her girlfriend down next to her best friend. “She needs rest and some water. You guys’ve really been through it, huh?”  
“You have too,” Glimmer grasped her hand briefly, “We’re gonna be okay now.”   
Catra sunk down onto the floor, Bow joining them in a puddle of safety. They were so distracted by their own happiness at seeing each other that they almost missed another reunion taking place in the safe house.   
“M-mom?” Kharim jumped up from the table he’d been seated at.   
“Ancestors above, it cannot be,” the gray haired woman Catra had brought with her walked over to the rebel in a daze, placing her hands on his cheeks. “My son. My Kharim.”   
They began crying, grasping each other tightly. The woman, who Glimmer learned was named Lukkae, checked her son all over. She commented at how much he had grown, chastised him for his wounds, and asked a million questions about his life.   
“Kharim, I would like for you to meet someone,” Lukkae dragged over a small, kind-eyed woman.   
“Oh, you are just too cute! Lukkae has told me so many stories.”  
The three began chatting joyously. A family reunited, with a new member included. Glimmer heard the short Purrsian bragging about how she was going to be the best stepmom ever.   
There was still plenty of work to be done. But for now, they were safe, and together. That was what really mattered. The rest would be sorted out with time.


	12. Chapter Twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last chapter my loves!

The Best Friend Squad ended up spending two more weeks on Purrsia, helping put the planet back together. Word had spread quickly of the rights violations going down at the gala, and the general Purrsian population was not happy. With the help of the rebel groups, and some assistance from She-Ra, the council was apprehended and set to go to trial as soon as possible. Lukkae and Kharim bonded even further while going through the capitol, liberating any chipped workers and returning them to their families. Senshi and Bow went through the prison catalogs and released any inmates being held on dumbass charges. With the council members gone, much of the capitol was repurposed as temporary housing for people that had been displaced by the government.   
Most of the aristocratic population submitted to the newly elected representatives without complaint. They’d never cared about the morality of the government, really, their main concern was saving their own hides. Catra made sure that anyone who had committed crimes or harmed others in the course of the council’s run would be held responsible, and stripped of their privilege.   
Eventually, with some help, their ship was up and running. Adora and Glimmer, as much as they loved the Purrsian people who didn’t want them dead, were eager to leave. After all, they had been starved, forced to self-mutilate, and publicly tortured.   
There was a slight bump. Many of the Purrsians, including Lukkae and her family, asked Catra to stay on the planet. They had immense respect for her ancestors, and wished for her to continue helping them repair their planet.   
“If you wanna stay,” Adora said, heartbroken, “I’ll understand. I won’t hold you back if that’s how you’ll be happy.”   
Catra rolled her eyes, “You’re such an idiot. I’m never leaving your side. There’s no way for me to be happy if I’m not with you.”  
“Oh,” Adora said, blushing as a grin spread over her cheeks.   
“Oh,” Catra mocked. She pressed a kiss to Adora’s forehead, then punched her in the shoulder.   
“Owch!”  
Catra cackled, “That’s what you get for thinking I’d leave you, dummy! Now, come on, I wanna put hair dye in Senshi’s shampoo before we leave.” Her tail smacked the door frame as she took off through the capitol.  
Adora laughed at her girlfriend’s antics. She and Senshi had been locked in a prank war for the past two weeks, so of course she wanted to get the last say before they took off in a couple hours.  
Later, on the ship, Catra screamed furiously when she found that the bag she had packed full of Purrsian clothes was filled with glitter, which had spilled all over hers and Adora’s bed. At the bottom of the bag was a note from Senshi. In messy, untrained standard language writing, their new friend had said:  
Guess you’ll just have to come back and get them. See you soon, friend.   
****  
Adora and Catra had filled the bathtub with as many bubbles as it could fit, and now laid in it with weird blue facemasks on their skin. Perfuma had taken one look at them and given them the skincare, claiming that she’d seen more moisture in the desert.   
“Is it just me, or does this stuff smell kinda like… fried fish?” Catra asked.  
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Adora replied, not opening her eyes, “I’m getting more of a broccoli scent.”   
They agreed to disagree. It was quiet for a few minutes as the girls enjoyed peaceful alone time. They’d arrived at Bright Moon around lunch, then attended the compulsory “welcome back” events until sundown. While they deeply loved their friends on Etheria, they were also bone-tired. Returning to their soft bed and warm tub was better than any amount of medicine they could’ve taken for their achey joints. Speaking of medicine, both girls were careful to keep their freshly-stitched ear wounds above the bathwater.   
Catra opened her eyes to gaze fondly at Adora. “I know that you’ll probably never want to go within a 100 light-year radius of it again, but I think that I’m gonna want to visit Purrsia sometime soon. I mean, I did find a little bit about myself there, and… well, it felt nice to meet other people like me.”  
Adora sat up, “I never said I wouldn’t go back. Sure, I have a lot of trauma surrounding the place, but it’s where you come from. That means that I can’t help but want to learn more about it, because it’ll mean learning more about you.” She grinned at her own corniness. Sometimes, the blonde spoke like the main character of one of Bow’s rom-coms. But still, she couldn’t help but be sappy when it came to Catra.   
“Well, you didn’t have to make me blush.”  
“Hush, it’s cute,” Adora scooped up a handful of bubbles and blew them into Catra’s face.  
Catra gasped, “You really wanna start this, princess?”  
“Bring it on.”   
You could say they were happy, but the word didn’t really encapsulate how they felt. Catra was never great with words, but she knew that there was nothing she’d rather have than this. Enough said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking around this long and reading! Hope it was as enjoyable to read as it was to write.


End file.
